Elphiore
by rennomiya
Summary: AU. A love story between the evil prince of Elphiore and the commoner he found five years ago. RyoSaku.
1. Chapter 1

_The boy walked slowly towards her. His footsteps were heard as he stepped into the stoned sidewalk. He stopped in the middle of a small gap between two houses and stared at the girl curled in the small space. _

_He walked closer. Until his shadow loomed over her. The girl sensed his presence and slowly raised her head up._

_For the first time ever, their eyes met. However, the girl's brown eyes drowned in fear as she looked at the boy, whilst the boy stared at her with unreadable amber eyes._

_The boy spoke a few words to her while the girl listened. Soon after, the girl's frightened eyes softened into a gentle one._

_Little by little, the boy held his hand out for her._

_And the girl, unsure of why she was not hesitating at that moment, slowly reached up to his hand. _

**Chapter 1**

In the land of Elphiore, where magic, mana, potions and spells exist, an enormous dark castle loomed over its townspeople. It couldn't help but be noticed that dark clouds only float over the castle and nowhere else. The entire land, save the castle, was as sunny as the sun can be and as blue as the sky can be.

Elphiore was ruled over by a family since the dark ages, which was three thousand years ago. The land's ancestors agreed on making that particular family the ruler because of the latter's previous heroic acts; that is to save the kingdom from the invasion of the neighboring country, Vesonia. The said family broke the curse of Vesonia in exchange of inflicting the curse into their family. The curse was that every chosen son in the family would die once he steps out of the castle. Since then, the castle was left in the darkness, in exchange for giving light in the whole kingdom.

Five hundred years after that, the standing ruler of Elphiore finally put a stop to Vesonia by completely eliminating the whole kingdom. It was to end the war between the lands.

And now, five hundred years later, a certain man knew that the battle between Elphiore and Vesonia was still not over. He grinned mischievously as he stared at the whole land from his balcony.

Then, eight hooded men stood at the stoned sidewalk of one of the many streets of Elphiore.

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

The thunder roared for a few moments and gave a certain room enough light to see a fifteen-year-old teen sprawled under the sheets of his bed. He had his bare arms wrapped around one of his pillows as he slightly cringed from the thunder noise.

He cringed another time when a person knocked on his heavily carved oak door.

"Echizen-sama? Echizen-sama? Please, it's time to wake up," the young man heard a monotonous male voice coming from the other side of the door. He ignored him, knowing that it was only one of his many butlers attempting on waking him up, and fortunately for him, failing in doing so.

The young man shifted into a more comfortable position with the pillow he was hugging. Then, after a few more seconds, his mind registered _it. _

'_Pillow? Why am I hugging a pillow? Where's…' _he thought and slowly opened his amber eyes.

His eyes met the aforementioned pillow.

He sat up frustratingly, showing his naked torso. His dark-green hair was sticking out of his head messily and his eyes narrowing, showing his irritated look. He scanned around his room, looking for a certain someone, who _should _be on the bed with him. He gazed around his room and only saw the usual fixtures that were eternally arranged in his room. But he saw no trail of the girl.

"Tch," he muttered irritatingly.

He felt another headache coming when the butler outside his room continued on calling him. And to end his irritation, he stood up, finally showing that he was indeed fully nude. He walked towards the door and opened it, revealing a stoic-looking butler clad in complete black clothing.

"You finally go—"

"Where's Ryuzaki?" the young man cut the butler's word off.

The butler adjusted his glasses and it gleamed while doing so, revealing his emotionless emerald eyes. "Ryuzaki-sama went outside earlier this morning," he answered and entered the room. He went straight towards the wooden and artistically-designed closet and opened it. He took out some clothes and walked back to the young man.

Then, he began dressing the young prince.

While he was buttoning the prince's black long-sleeved top, the young man spoke. "Why'd she leave?" he asked in a dangerous tone while watching the butler finishing his task of clothing him.

The butler straightened himself up and answered in the most polite way he can, "She told me that she wanted to show Karupin-sama around town."

The prince glared at him even more.

The butler sensed the prince's anger at him and bowed forty-five degrees. "I beg for your forgiveness, sir."

The boy gritted his teeth and started walking out to the hallway, while the butler followed after him. "Tell James to prepare the carriage," the prince said in an authoritative tone. The butler nodded and replied, "As you wish," and left to do what his master told him to do.

The young man stopped walking and stared at the huge glassed window with golden rails. As usual, the castle was still dark and gloomy, entirely contradicting the fine weather outside the castle.

With that, he began walking on the red carpeted-floor.

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

Eight mysteriously hooded men sat inside the counter of a coffee shop. The eight men all sat adjacently to each other. The shop was emitting the usual aroma of coffee beans. Its interior was arranged in a way that one would feel at home.

One of the mysterious men removed his hood and sighed heavily. He had spiky black hair and violet eyes. "Man, traveling from the organization up here in Elphiore is as tiring as ever," he complained as he leaned his back comfortably on the wooden chair.

Some of the men uttered their orders to the owner, who just listened to them.

Another man removed his hood. It revealed that he had egg-shaped head and green eyes. "Momo, don't say that. We're here to find our—"

"Oishi," warned another man with authoritative aura emitting from his body. He had diaphanous oval glasses, emphasizing his brown eyes and gold-brownish hair. He looked at the owner and muttered his order.

Oishi Syuichiroh laughed weakly and uttered an apology. He was close to revealing the reason of their existence in that place in public.

After a few more minutes, the owner served their coffee.

Momoshiro Takeshi stared jealously at his seatmate's order, which was a slice of Belgium Chocolate Cake. "E-Eiji-senpai! Why did you order such thing!" he asked as if Eiji did the most unjust thing in the world.

Kikumaru Eiji grinned and took a bite of his cake hungrily. "Too bad, Momo-chin," teased the man as he removed his hood, revealing his red hair, "They don't just serve coffee here, baka!"

Momo pouted and quickly turned to the owner, "Sir! Give me three slices of what you gave him," he pointed a finger at Eiji's direction.

Ignoring the two's usual loudness, a man revealed his appearance as he too, removed his hood, showing his foggy rectangular glasses and spiky black hair. He raised a glowing finger up, and a notebook magically popped out while floating in the air. The man took it and reviewed his notes. "We're not here to eat, Momo, Kikumaru," he said in monotonously.

A smiling chestnut-haired man sipped his coffee. He already removed his hood a while ago. He turned to the man holding a notebook and said, "Saa, Inui. Why don't you give the details of our little recruit? It might help us find him."

Inui Sadaharu's glasses beamed. Slightly glad that all of his friends' attentions were on him, he turned to a page in his notebook and said, "He's not just an ordinary recruit. Tezuka," he turned his head to nod respectively at their leader, "and I fully researched on him. Relphore already told us on how powerful this man is."

Eiji's eyes widened. "Eh? Rel-san was actually the one who wanted him, nya?" He leaned closer to Inui, intrigued from top to bottom.

"Yes, Kikumaru. Relphore was the one who wanted him," Inui answered.

Momo nodded his head wisely. "So that's why buchou was in a hurry to get here."

The smiling chestnut-haired man opened his usually closed eyes, revealing his dazzling blue orbs. "I suppose that Rel was getting impatient with Vesonia."

Tezuka nodded. "You're right Fuji. Relphore was suspicious that Vesonia wanted revenge."

"There's fifty percent chance that there were survivors of Vesonia after the war five hundred years ago," Inui muttered. "Anyway, Relphore mentioned that the person we're going to recruit is actually Elphiore's current heir."

They heard a familiar hiss coming from the end corner. The man turned his head to look at them and it revealed his glaring eyes. "Then there's no need for us to look for him. It's obvious he's inside the castle."

Oishi nodded. "Kaidoh's right."

"There's one problem though," Inui interrupted, "The dark castle doesn't just let anyone in."

"M-Maybe… w-what if we tell t-them that Rel-san o-ordered us to b-be there…" the last man stuttered. He had brown hair and his trademark sideburns, "S-Since h-he's the future k-king, then he m-must know R-Rel-san."

Momo nodded his head in agreement.

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

A furry Himalayan cat meowed under the arms of a young girl. She was wearing a dress filled with stylish ruffles and laces. She also had noticeable wavy auburn hair. Two thin braids that were tied with matching laces of her dress were sticking out of that wavy hair and were bouncing as she walked on the busy streets of Elphiore.

"Karupin-chan," she said happily as she stopped in front of a boutique. "What do you think of that doll?" she pointed towards a porcelain doll with blonde hair and red dress displayed at the store. She noticed that a little girl inside the shop was talking with the owner of the store and she figured that the little girl was trying to buy a doll for herself. Karupin meowed again which made the girl regain her senses back. "It's cute, right?" she smiled at the cat, referring to the previous doll she was talking about.

"Yes, and you're cute too," she heard an unfamiliar voice said behind her.

Her brown eyes widened and she immediately turned around. She saw a thug grinning mischievously at her. She knew what that man wanted from her. She tried her best to avoid men like him while she tour around town that's why she only wore the most plain dress she had (which was obviously _not that _plain enough).

The thug stepped closer to her, and she stepped back. The process went on until her back hit the glass window of the store behind her. The cat meowed again as she looks between the girl carrying her and the stranger in front of them.

"Aw, don't be scared, little princess," the thug said with his cracking voice. He leaned closer to her, "You look like you're lost. I don't mind giving you directions if you give me money. And by money, I mean _a lot of money_."

The girl kept on staring at the thug with scared eyes. Then, she pointed towards the sky with a look-there's-an-alien-trying-to-kill-you face. The thug turned his head back around slightly to see what she's pointing out, only to realize that the girl only tricked him and was currently running away from him.

"Get back here!" he gritted his teeth and ran after her.

The girl saw the man on the corner of her eyes. He was running after her! She shut her eyes tight, mentally praying that someone would help her. If not, she'll be forced to use her power. Then, Karupin meowed again. After that, an idea hit her.

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

"Anyway," Fuji Syuusuke said, "We better be careful. No one knows what this heir looks like."

After a few more minutes of taking a rest, the team headed out to continue their journey. When they all got out of the coffee shop, a strong wind passed by, making their hair and clothes violently blow.

Immediately after, the wind stopped. They looked at the each other curiously.

"P-Please move out of the way!" a soft voice yelled.

They saw a huge furry cat-like creature with blue eyes, about ten feet high, with three brown tails running towards them with tremendous speed.

Momo, Oishi, Taka and Eiji panicked right away. Kaidoh blushed upon seeing the cute creature.

On the contrary, Tezuka, Fuji and Inui remained neutral. And because they were calm, they noticed a girl with wavy auburn hair wearing a dress sitting on top of the cat-like creature.

Momo, Oishi, Taka and Eiji ran away when the creature was almost near them, making it look like the huge cat was chasing them.

"I-It's chasing us!" Momo yelled while running as fast as possible.

Eiji tried his best to fasten his speed more. He yelled in panic, "Mou! I don't mean to attract kitties like that, nya!"

"Karupin-chan! S-Slow down!" the heard the same soft voice from before.

"E-Eh? Where did that voice come from?" Oishi asked as he was panting while running away.

Back in front of the coffee shop, Fuji, Tezuka, Inui and Kaidoh stood casually.

Fuji smiled. "Saa, we better save that little girl stuck in the huge cat."

Inui and the other two nodded. But Kaidoh was mentally saying that he wanted to save the huge cat instead, being an animal lover and all.

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

A carriage stopped abruptly in the middle of the road.

The person inside grunted. "What now!" he yelled to the driver.

But James did not answer. The young man inside got more irritated and so he went outside the carriage, despite his butler's request to stop.

He jumped down and walked towards James. "What the hell's the matter with you!"

He saw James's eyes looking extremely frightened and panic-stricken. The young man turned curious to what made his driver like that. He looked at where his driver was looking at and saw a huge cat and a girl riding on its back running towards them. He instantly recognized the cat. "Karupin!"

Just as the butler was about to go outside the carriage, James whipped the horse and controlled it to turn around. The carriage ran away from the cat. And James, the rider, who thought that the huge cat was chasing after them, left the young man in the middle of the street.

The young man rolled his eyes. Pathetic commoner, he thought. There's nothing to be scared about. It was just a huge cat running towards them. He watched his carriage run back to where the castle was. And he mentally noted to punish James and his butler, Hedrick, once he returns to the castle. Then, he noticed that four guys were also running towards him. He guessed that Karupin was chasing those guys. The four guys past by him with a breeze.

He raised his head and locked his eyes on Karupin's eyes. The cat saw her master and stopped abruptly once she was a feet away from him. And because of the sudden stop, the girl sitting on top of the feline stumbled and fell forward. The young man expertly caught her with his strength and fast reflexes.

"Tsk, tsk. Karupin, bad kitty. You almost hurt her," he said to the cat as he flicked her nose. The cat just meowed.

Then, another four guys came running towards him. '_What's with people running towards me today?' _he thought.

"Ah," Fuji said, "Looks like the girl's saved."

Kaidoh ran towards the huge cat. He hesitantly touched the cat's fur and blushed upon contact with his skin.

"Oi, who are you? Don't touch my cat," the young man said in a treacherous tone after seeing Kaidoh.

Kaidoh blushed again in embarrassment. He hissed. Then, he surprisingly asked, "T-This is your pet?" How he wished he also had a pet as cute and possibly as huge as her.

The girl finally regained her balance and straightened herself up slightly. "R-Ryoma-kun?"

Echizen Ryoma glared at her. "I don't like it when I wake up not seeing you next to me," he said and finally let out his slight frustration since morning on her.

The girl knitted her brows in apology. "G-Gomen… I-I just wanted to tour Karupin around…"

Ryoma's brow twitched. He wrapped an arm around her waist and cupped one hand on her face. "Don't you even dare do it again," he stated warningly and kissed her lips passionately.

Kaidoh blushed while he watched the two.

Inui and Fuji awkwardly looked away.

And Tezuka, on the other hand, interrupted the two and said in a stoic tone, "I do not tolerate such ill-behavior at this time, and most especially in this place."

Ryoma broke the kiss and glared hardly at Tezuka. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" he said in the rudest way possible.

Meanwhile, Taka, Momo, Eiji and Oishi finally noticed that the cat stopped running after them. They stopped slowly and panted for breath. They looked behind them and saw the huge cat sitting casually a few meters behind them while their other teammates were talking with two strangers. Curiosity hit them and they walked back towards Tezuka and the others.

"Hey, what's going on guys?" Oishi asked when they reached their teammates.

They noticed that their leader and a kid with green hair and amber eyes were having a glaring contest.

"Nya, who're they?" Eiji asked Fuji.

Fuji weakly smiled. "The boy's the cat's master," he explained briefly.

"So then, why is buchou glaring at the boy?" Momo asked, completely intrigued.

Fuji answered, "Oh you know Tezuka."

"Wow!" Eiji suddenly exclaimed after he finally examined the boy's looks from head to toe, "That little boy's so CUTE!"

Ryoma finally noticed that the man he was glaring at had more backup. He thought that they were going to team up on them. He grabbed the girl's wrist protectively.

Eiji blushed in happiness. "My gosh! They're adorable!" He went closer to Ryoma and giggled like a fan girl. "O'chibi! I'm going to call you O'chibi from now on, nya!"

Ryoma heard the cat-like man and glared at him. "Who're you calling O'chibi?" he hissed dangerously.

Momo chuckled. "The little man's trying to protect his girlfriend," he teased.

Somehow, Ryoma felt more irritated with these guys than normal goons. But he didn't sense any evil thoughts coming from the eight guys. But just in case, he tightened his grip on her wrist. Especially if they found out that they were more than nobles roaming around the busy streets of Elphiore.

Oishi said to them with worry, "But be careful guys. Nobles are usually targeted by gangsters in this part of town."

"Fshuu. Why is the cat running anyway?" Kaidoh asked as he hid his soft spot for felines.

The girl answered. "G-Gomen. T-The truth is… a-anou… a thug was c-chasing after us…"

Oishi panicked. "See? That's what I told you! You better be more careful!"

"A thug?" Ryoma looked sternly at her.

The girl nodded.

Ryoma groaned. "That's why I don't just let you wander around town with no bodyguards! What if Karupin wasn't with you!" he scolded.

Momo and Eiji grinned. "Look at that! He's _really, really _concerned with his girlfriend."

Ryoma eyed them with fury. Then, an idea hit his head. He smirked arrogantly at them. "She's my sister."

"EH?" they shouted at once. "Sister?"

Something must've snapped inside Tezuka. "Sister? Yet you were kissing her in an inappropriate way."

Ryoma continued on smirking confidently at them. "So?"

Momo and Eiji suddenly went teary-eyed. "Sister? Oh, why was fate so cruel!" they yelled into the skies as they cried their hearts out. Both were unable to hold their feelings in. And they actually thought that the girl and Ryoma were a cute couple.

The girl pouted. Ryoma's trying to trick people again. She sighed. Then, she looked at Karupin, who was still as big as an elephant. She walked towards Karupin and lovingly caressed the cat's legs. "Karupin-chan, I think it's time for you to go back to normal. The thug probably lost sight on us already," she said lovingly.

The cat meowed one last time before glowing. And with a popping sound, the cat transformed back into its normal size. The feline landed safely on the girl's arm.

Kaidoh's eyes widened. The cat's more amazing than what he thought before.

"So that's its original size," Fuji said as he walked over to her and patted the cat's head gently.

"Oi, don't touch my cat!" Ryoma angrily said to the smiling Fuji.

Fuji chuckled. "Okay then," he raised his hand up and patted the girl's head instead. "I'll just touch this cute girl then."

Before anyone knew it, Ryoma's hand gripped tightly on Fuji's wrist. He had warning glares shot straight at Fuji's already opened blue eyes. "Get. Your. Filthy. Hands. Off."

Fuji and Ryoma kept on glaring at each other, with the little girl in the middle looking confusedly at the two of them.

Oishi weakly laughed and decided to break the growing tension between the two. "A-A-Anyway! We're going now!"

Fuji smiled. "Saa, let me first know this cute girl's name." He looked at the girl gently.

The girl blushed. "R-Ryuzaki Sakuno…"

Ryoma glared harder at the two of them.

"Such a nice—" Before Fuji could finish what he's going to say, Oishi already pushed him away and walked towards another direction with the others.

"Bye guys! Thanks for the company!" Oishi yelled as he and the others were walking away.

Ryoma and Sakuno stared at their disappearing figures. Sakuno turned to Ryoma and smiled. "They're pretty nice, aren't they?"

Ryoma ignored her and began walking away.

"Ryoma-kun?"

"James, the idiot, left already with Hedrick," he explained as Sakuno caught up to him.

Sakuno pouted. "Eh? How could they just leave you behind? You're the—"

Ryoma shut her off when he covered her mouth with his hand. "Someone might hear you."

Sakuno nodded and Ryoma removed his hands from her. "We're walking back," he said.

Then, they heard a voice laughing evilly from behind them. Sakuno immediately recognized the voice. It was the goon from before. Ryoma and Sakuno turned around and saw the same gangster who ran after Sakuno before.

"So, you called a friend huh?" the goon said and laughed like a maniac.

"This is the moron who tried to take money from you?" Ryoma asked. She nodded.

A vein twitched on the goon's forehead. "Who're you calling moron, small fry?"

Also, a vein twitched on Ryoma's forehead. "Who're you calling small fry, moron?"

The goon groaned. He raised his fist up and was about to punch Ryoma on the face when the latter stopped him with his hand.

Sakuno and Karupin watched them with boredom. "Ryoma-kun, go easy on him," she reminded.

"Hai, hai…" Ryoma replied with equal boredom. The goon got angrier with them and was about to hit Ryoma's stomach with his other hand. Ryoma smirked arrogantly. "Mada mada dane," he uttered softly for the goon to hear.

Ryoma jumped out of the goon's reach and landed on the latter's head. The goon panicked when he felt Ryoma's weight on his head. "Get down from there, pipsqueak!"

The goon tried to grab Ryoma's feet but the young man was fast. He jumped out of the way, making the goon grab his own face instead. A second after the goon removed his hand from his face, Ryoma teleported in front of him and hit his face with his knee, knocking the man out.

Ryoma landed without even a scratch in front of Sakuno. "Ryoma-kun, you didn't go easy on him."

"I held back my strength. It's just he's too weak," he said as he kicked the unconscious man's face.

"Anyway," he turned around to face Sakuno, "Did the moron hurt you and Karupin before?"

Sakuno shook her head. "But I was hesitant in using my power. And then I realized that Karupin's with me, so I asked Karupin to transform for a while so that we could run away from him."

Ryoma patted her head. "Good. Don't waste your power on this weakling."

The two looked at each other knowingly. After a few seconds, an arm wrapped around Sakuno's shoulder and a knife was instantly pointed on her face. Ryoma got surprised by this. He looked at whoever was holding Sakuno. It was still the same goon from before.

Ryoma glared at him. He didn't expect that the goon was still conscious. "Yarou…"

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

"Oh, I just remembered something," Oishi said as he and the others were jumping from one roof to another, "That little boy and Sakuno-chan were obviously nobles, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Momo asked as he landed on a thin wire and jumped off of it.

"There's a seventy-eight percent possibility that nobles live closer to the dark castle," Inui muttered. Unlike the others who were jumping from roofs to other roofs, he was riding a giant notebook, which was floating in the air.

Fuji smiled. "So you guys think that they can lead us to a shorter path?" he asked as he jumped off a bricked roof.

"We mustn't let our guard down," Tezuka said as he stopped on top of a chimney.

The others noticed him stopped and so they did, too.

"Shall we go back?" Taka asked.

"Either that or get punished for not listening to me," Tezuka said as he ran back to where they left Ryoma and Sakuno. The others followed him.

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

The goon laughed evilly. "Let me just get it to the point. Give me all your money now if you don't want me stabbing your little girlfriend's face." Sakuno just sighed tiredly.

Ryoma grunted. He took out his wallet from his pocket. The goon grinned. "That's more like it. You're actually obedient."

Then, Ryoma smirked arrogantly. The goon glared at him. "What's that annoying look for?"

"If you really want to have this money, then you must earn it," Ryoma said.

"What the fuck are you talking about kid! Give me the money now!"

Ryoma turned his head as if searching for something. He found a stray dog not too far away from them. He turned his arrogant amber eyes to the goon again and said, "Entertain me, and you'll get the money."

"What!" The goon was certainly more than pissed off right now. Never once in his criminal life did he encounter such an annoying and arrogant victim, who doesn't even seem a bit afraid of him. And this fact was starting to freak him out.

Ryoma pointed a finger towards a stray dog. "If you want my money, then entertain me by having sex with the dog."

Sakuno sighed again tiredly.

"That's it! Now you've certainly had it!" The goon warningly pointed the knife to Sakuno's neck. "I'm really going to kill your girlfriend now!"

Before Ryoma could move, he heard a voice coming from somewhere.

"Unfortunately," a familiar voice said as he jumped from one of the building's roof down to them, "the cute little girl's his sister, not girlfriend."

Ryoma recognized the man. It was the same man from earlier, Momoshiro.

Another figure jumped towards them.

"And because fate was cruel," he said as he flipped in mid air and landed in front of the goon and Sakuno, "they're in for a forbidden love."

It was Kikumaru.

"Oi, I don't need your help," Ryoma said to the two, "Get out of here if you don't want me to—"

But Kikumaru and Momoshiro did not listen to him. They charged to the goon and attacked his hand, making the knife drop on the ground.

Kikumaru expertly got Sakuno out of the goon's strong hold while Momo pressed something on the goon's nape, which made the goon fainted.

"A-Anou…" Sakuno timidly said.

Kikumaru grinned at her.

"What the hell are you doing here? I said I can handle things here! Who are you to ignore me?" Ryoma said irritatingly at the two guys.

Momoshiro moved to Ryoma for a headlock. "Don't be disrespectful to your elders! And instead of being a cocky brat, why don't you just thank us instead?"

"Get off of me!" Ryoma yelled, trying to get out of Momo's headlock.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a brat," Eiji said as he shook his head disapprovingly.

"Arigatou," Sakuno said to them. "Anou…"

"Momoshiro Takeshi," Momo introduced.

"Kikumaru Eiji, nice to meet you, nya!" Eiji grinned happily.

Sakuno smiled. "Hontou ni arigatou, Kikumaru-san, Momoshiro-san," she bowed politely at them.

Kikumaru playfully patted Sakuno's head. "No prob!"

"I said get your hands off her!" Ryoma yelled, still trying to break out of Momo's headlock.

"Geez, you're too stubborn!" Momo said.

"Anyway," Sakuno said, "What are you doing back here? I thought you guys already left."

"Yeah, well… We came back because we thought that you guys might know a shorter way towards the castle," Momo answered as he finally released Ryoma.

"Eh? The castle?"

"Yes. Buchou ordered us to go back here and ask you guys," Momo said.

"Speaking of which, where's the other doorknobs?" Ryoma asked, referring to Tezuka and the others.

Momo ignored Ryoma's insult and pointed upwards. Ryoma followed where he's pointing at and saw the other _doorknobs _standing on the roofs of different buildings, watching over them.

Fuji waved at them.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Is it your hobby to stand on top of buildings?"

"No. When we came back, you were already fighting a goon. We decided to help when you didn't notice that the goon was still conscious and decided to point a knife to dear Sakuno-chan, here," Momo explained.

"Anou… why did you assume that we might know a shorter way?" Sakuno asked politely.

Then, the _doorknobs _jumped down and landed in front of them.

Inui said to them, "Nobles live closer to the dark castle. And since you two are from a noble family, considering your clothes, then you must know a shorter way towards it."

Sakuno smiled at them. "Yes, as a matter of fact, we do know a shorter way."

"Then, can you help us?" Fuji asked as he kissed Sakuno's hand.

"No," Ryoma replied shortly and snatched Sakuno's hand from Fuji.

"Oh come on! Why not?" Eiji whined.

"Because doorknobs aren't allowed in the castle," Ryoma replied as he was walking away from them.

"What did you call us!" Momo asked angrily.

"Anou…" Sakuno stopped, which made Ryoma stop on his tracks too, much to his dismay. "What is your business in the castle?"

Oishi scratched his head. After receiving an approval nod from Tezuka, he continued, "W-We have some business with the heir. We're going to meet him today."

Ryoma and the girl looked at each other. Before the girl could reply, a familiar carriage stopped in front of them. The driver went down and muttered an apology to Ryoma.

Hedrick went outside the carriage and bowed apologetically at his master. "Please, forgive us, Echizen-sama."

Ryoma glared at them. "You better. You left me in the middle of the road," he said harshly.

Eiji and Momo whispered at each other. "So, this is how aristocrats live, huh?"

"Oh come on. Forgive them already, Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno said as she smiled weakly at Ryoma.

"Yadda," he replied stubbornly.

Sakuno ignored his reply and turned to Tezuka and the others happily. "Anou, we're going home now. We can lead you to the castle," she said with a nice smile.

Tezuka nodded. "I thank you for your help."

Sakuno waved a hand. "It's okay," then she looked at the carriage and back to the eight men, "But… I don't think you guys will fit in the carriage…"

"No problem" Oishi said happily, "We'll just follow the carriage."

:||**ElPhIoRe**||:

At first, Ryoma didn't believe that those eight guys would manage to follow where the carriage will go. He even ordered James to fasten the speed more. But after seeing that those eight guys were just jumping nonchalantly from one roof to another, he gave up the idea of losing them on the way.

"Echizen-sama, if I'm not mistaken, those men are wizards," Hedrick said quietly.

Ryoma nodded. "It's obvious."

Sakuno just played with Karupin.

The _doorknobs _noticed that the skies were getting darker. Kaidoh looked back and found that the sky in Elphiore was still blue. But as they went closer to the castle, the skies get darker, until there were fogs surrounding them.

"We're getting closer to the castle," Tezuka said to everyone. "And the fog is getting thicker. Don't let your guard down."

"Hai!" they replied.

And then, a thunder roared, making Kaidoh pale and Kikumaru surprised.

"That was scary!" Kikumaru said while Kaidoh whispered it to himself.

Then, they finally had a better view of the castle.

"There it is!"

Then, the carriage they were following went inside a dead forest. And not wanting to lose track of the carriage, they just ran on the ground to keep the carriage within their sight. Every tree in the forest had no leaves. And even if there are leaves, it could be counted in one hand. Most of the leaves they saw were dried up, and there were owls and bats and even wolves staring at them with red eyes.

"Anou…" Sakuno said to them while sticking her head out of the carriage, "Don't be scared of the animals. They're pretty kind. Just don't scare them."

They nodded and continued on following the carriage.

After a few more minutes of running, the carriage stopped in front of huge black gate. A guard opened the gate for them.

The eight _doorknobs _suddenly turned suspicious of Ryoma and Sakuno. From what they believe and know, the two were only nobles, and should have already stopped at where most nobles live. They should have stopped before entering the dead forest. But they just went straight ahead to the castle. "Maybe they're the king's relatives?" Taka said unsurely to everyone.

The carriage entered the gates.

Before getting to the castle, they had to pass by a huge garden. But the garden had no life, just like the forest. Every plant already withered. They felt like they were in a haunted castle or something. And then they saw that there was a graveyard at the far eastern side of the castle.

After examining the outside of the castle more, they carriage finally stopped and Sakuno and Ryoma went outside.

"This is the entrance of the castle," Sakuno said.

They stared at the huge white pillars surrounding the ground floor of the castle. Between one of those many pillars was a marbled staircase with a red carped in the middle leading to a huge mahogany door and a butler clad in black clothes standing at the side.

"Woah!" they said in awe.

The butler opened the door for them. "Your visitors, master?" he asked politely.

"None of your business," Ryoma said rudely and went straight in.

"What a brat," Eiji whispered to Momo.

Sakuno smiled and asked them to follow her. Hedrick walked a few feet behind them.

When they entered the castle, they were at more awe. If only the castle did not look like it was haunted, it'd be truly a sight to see. There were candelabras and draperies at the marble walls. There were paintings hanging from the wall. There are golden railings on every huge glassed window they see. The corner between the ceiling and the wall had wooden carvings all over. There are statues of knights standing at either side of the hallway were they currently just turned to.

Then, they passed by a really huge oak door. The door looked larger than the ones they saw earlier.

"What's this room for?" Eiji pointed towards it.

"None of your business," Ryoma replied.

Eiji pouted.

"Echizen," Tezuka suddenly called. This time, they stopped in another huge door that was larger than the last one they saw. Hedrick opened the door for them. "Are you the heir's relative?"

Ryoma smirked confidently at him. Then, he entered the room along with Sakuno.

"This is where the king's throne is," Hedrick explained to the eight guys as they were entering the room.

They observed the room. There were decorations everywhere. Paintings, vases, sculptures and even the small chairs and tables around had beautiful carvings in them. And there hang a huge crystal chandelier at the artistically painted ceiling. Looking as if it's ready to fall on top of their heads once they get on the middle of it. The corner between the marble walls and the ceiling had diamond carvings all over. And they noticed that they were walking on a red carpet that leads to the throne of the king. At the northern part of the room, stood a golden, sophisticatedly carved throne resting on a three-leveled wooden platform.

They stopped when they were a few feet away from the throne.

"Hey, where's Echizen?" Oishi worriedly asked Sakuno. She was standing beside them. "Oh, you'll know where he is."

Hedrick cleared his throat. "I introduce you, to Elphiore's current king," he gestured their visions to a figure sitting on the throne.

They couldn't see his face at first, since the room was dimly-lit. But as another lightning hit the dark skies, it gave them a bit of a view to see who was sitting and they finally get to see a young boy, who seemed to be in his fifteens looking down at them from his throne with insulting amber eyes.

"E-Echizen?" Kaidoh asked disbelievingly as he recognized the man sitting on the throne. How could a mere boy rule over a whole kingdom? With his age, he should still be learning how to rule over the monarchy! And besides, they never expected Ryoma to be the one sitting there. Are they joking?

"Yeah, I'm the King," Ryoma said in an arrogant tone. He had his head rested on his hand and his legs crossed.

"A-A young boy!" Oishi couldn't believe it either. "A-And it's Echizen no less!"

"Ii data," Inui muttered.

Ryoma rolled his eyes to Sakuno. "What the hell are you still doing there?"

They all gulped at the harshness of his voice.

Sakuno just smiled and walked towards him. She stepped over the platform and sat on Ryoma's lap.

The eight men was now more confused than ever.

Ryoma caressed Sakuno's hair while staring at the eight men's eyes. "Oh by the way… Ryuzaki's not really my sister," he said.

He kissed her passionately on the lips before he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head with his free hand.

He smirked at them as they gaped like fishes at him.

Except for Tezuka Kunimitsu, who only stared at him.

"Now, who are you and what do you want to discuss with me?" Ryoma asked with his arrogant voice.

Tezuka looked at him with his usual stern eyes, ignoring his inward surprise that Echizen was the one they were looking for all along. "We're from Elphiore's underground organization called Eiralith. And we need you to join Relphore's Alliance."

To be continued.

* * *

><p>AN: My inspiration in writing this fic were Kuroshitsuji, Fairy Tail and Soul Eater. Leave a review ^^


	2. Chapter 2

_The young boy with amber eyes stared indifferently at the female stranger a few meters away from him. She was curled up miserably at a small space between two houses. _

_He smirked triumphantly, for some reason._

_Oh, how he loved people in pain._

_Three young boys about his age walked towards her; each carrying planks. _

_One of the three boys grinned menacingly at her, while she just kept on burying her head on her knees, afraid to look at anyone at the moment._

_She didn't shout or even wince in pain as the three boys kept hitting her with the piece of wood, for a reason that he may not even know._

_But whatever the reason was, he didn't care. He always comes to that place specifically to see her get bullied by kids her own age._

_Then, he heard his butler telling him that it was late and he needed to get back to his sword-fighting lessons in the castle._

_He mildly complained, as his butler apologized for ruining his entertainment._

_Nonetheless, the young prince agreed on going back home and let his driver drive all the way to the dark and cursed castle of Elphiore._

_And he took one last glance at the girl curled up in that same place; body filled with scratches and head bleeding._

_He smirked. _

_How he loved to see people in pain._

**Chapter 2**

"Eiralith?" the young prince sitting on his throne asked in slight confusion. "What's that?"

The members of Eiralith all gasped in shock. How could the King of Elphiore not know who they were? They were the reason why Elphiore was known by the whole world as an influential and helpful country. They go to other kingdoms to help them with their own problems. They were always summoned by great Elphiore authorities to give them each their tasked missions. They help solve mysteries, be it supernatural or not, and had grown to have a respectful name because of it. Although the group was still hidden under Elphiore's shadow, and not known by commoners and the like around the world, they were still widely known by top officials on each country of the world.

"And who the hell is Relphore?" he asked again, but this time, with less curiosity as he began caressing Sakuno's auburn hair.

"How… how could you not know Rel-san?" Momoshiro Takeshi asked disbelievingly as he pointed an accusing finger towards the prince's direction. "You're royalty, right?" he added as an afterthought.

"So?" Ryoma said smugly while his hand traveled from caressing Sakuno's hair to her chin seductively. "That doesn't mean I know every commoner in my country."

The eight Eiralith men kept on eyeing him disbelievingly.

Just then, Fuji cleared his throat. "I apologize for intruding… but Relphore's not a commoner… but he does live in this country."

Ryoma narrowed his brows in annoyance. "I don't give a damn on who he is."

"You," Eiji knitted his brows in skepticism, "really don't know who Rel-san is?"

Ryoma shook his head.

Tezuka stepped up sternly, staring at Ryoma with his usual cold eyes. "It's impossible for you not to know Relphore. Unless you're a fake prince."

With Tezuka's words, the rest of Eiralith faces' changed with understanding. That could only be the reason why Echizen Ryoma, proclaimed King of Elphiore, not know who Relphore is. He didn't even know their group! They would understand it if he's a commoner, but he and his butler were saying he was the King so it was impossible, really impossible, for him not to know them.

"Nope. I'm the real deal," he said with confidence.

It was then when Hedrick finally spoke up. "Echizen-sama, for you not to know who Relphore _and _what Eiralith is, I suppose you skipped your lesson on the day it was discussed," he took a book from his pocket and flipped through its pages, "and according to my record, the day you skipped was on the 12th of September, exactly eight months and 10 days ago."

Ryoma didn't look at his butler. A sweat drop was forming on his cheek as he looked at nowhere in particular, avoiding Hedrick's glare. And indirectly confessing that he did what Hedrick accused him of.

Sakuno raised her head to look at Ryoma's distant gaze over nothing. She chuckled. "I remember that day," her sweet voice spoke, earning Eiralith and everyone else's attention, "It was the day when Ryoma-kun trick Kirihara to take the lesson for him. He disguised Kirihara to look like him and proceeded on taking a nap on his room."

Hedrick eyed Ryoma accusingly. "So it was true."

"Thanks for the help, Ryuzaki," Ryoma said sarcastically. Sakuno simply grinned at him.

Tezuka grunted. "So that's why. How irresponsible and utterly distasteful you are. I'm displeased to even know that you're our current king."

Ryoma glared at him. Sure, he maybe nothing but an arrogant prince (who was far from being the greatest in the leadership department) but that four-eyed forty-year-old-looking man had gone too far with the insulting. "Watch your fu—"

"_You _watch your mouth, Echizen-sama," Hedrick scolded again. He looked at Tezuka who was still glaring at the young prince. "You wouldn't want to get into Eiralith's bad side." Ryoma gritted his teeth as he watched Hedrick walked towards Tezuka and bowed deeply in front of him. "Please, forgive our King. I would make sure he would be punished for what he did."

"Wait a minute…" Eiji interrupted, "Now that I remember, there was no news coming from Relphore that the King had already given his seat to his son, nya."

Inui nodded. "That's why he told us to go recruit the heir, not the king."

Hedrick provided answers to their questions, "Nanjiroh-sama is still the current king. The Highness just got impatient with how lazy the young prince was and how disinterested was he for being the next King, so Nanjiroh-sama left the Kingdom in the care of young prince Ryoma for three years. And for the meantime, Echizen-sama was forced to take the throne until Nanjiroh-sama returns."

Momoshiro and Kikumaru snickered at that.

"His Highness' punishment would also be a good training for young prince Ryoma's future as the next King of Elphiore. And the probable reason why Relphore-san had no idea that this punishment for the heir occurred was because King Nanjiroh only told his immediate family about it," Hedrick explained further.

"This punishment is unacceptable. If I were granted to speak with the _real _King regarding of this situation, I would have suggested locking the young prince inside the palace's dungeon, for him to rethink how terrible he let his guard down," Tezuka said stoically with his respected stance.

Ryoma glared at him even more. How he already despised that Tezuka.

"So, how long had he been the Kingdom's king already?" Fuji brought the topic back up.

"Three months," Hedrick answered with a respective bow.

"Three months already and he still hadn't learned the proper lesson," Tezuka added.

"When will you shut up," Ryoma said coldly to Tezuka.

"When you prove yourself worthy to be the next King," the Eiralith captain answered.

"Oh come on Tezuka," Oishi interrupted, trying to cut the still-growing tension between the two, "He's still a kid. Give him a break. He'll learn how to do it properly eventually."

"Don't give me that kind of reason. When I was his age, I was already Relphore's top candidate on being Eiralith's squad captain," he said as he looked at Oishi.

And they were sure that he was already the best candidate to take over Rel's position as the head and highest official in Eiralith's Alliance of Kingdoms.

"And from what Inui said, Echizen is only two years younger than us!" Tezuka added.

Taka stepped in between the two. He didn't like seeing his squad's captain and vice-captain in such tension. "Come on you two, focus! We came here to recruit Echizen as one of the members of our squad, right?"

"Yadda," Ryoma suddenly said, earning another frightening glare from Tezuka.

"You're refusing _us_?" Tezuka said in a low voice.

Ryoma shot back. "You're forcing _me_?"

Sakuno could feel lightning bolts between the two.

The rest of Eiralith gulped frighteningly at them.

Sakuno sensed that Tezuka's reason for recruiting her prince was far more important than Ryoma's usual everyday tantrums. She turned to Ryoma. "Why don't you listen to what he's going to say? I think it's very important."

Tezuka rolled his eyes to look at Sakuno. She smiled sweetly at him, despite his cold and hard glare on her.

"Why would I want to listen to a rock?" he asked her as he shot Tezuka a mocking look.

"Because," she reasoned, "a _rock _also needs another _rock _to talk to."

"Ryuzaki, you—"

"Vesonians".

The young prince immediately shot a surprise glance at Tezuka. Even Hedrick was intrigued by where the conversation was heading. "What… did you say?" the young prince asked.

"For sure, even if you skipped this lesson or not, you must know who the Vesonians are… and what they did to our country thousands of years ago," Tezuka said.

"What does Vesonia had to do with this?" he asked in a low, serious voice. He finally took their tête-à-tête seriously.

Tezuka knew that the young prince would take a different turn in the conversation after he mentioned that name. "We heard from Relphore that you had deep hatred against the Vesonians, who had been rumored to be still alive and currently developing plots on how to get revenge on Elphiore."

Ryoma nodded weakly, his face remained serious.

"Vesonians are the ones who inflicted the curse upon the royal family," Eiji suddenly said. "Every chosen son in the family per generation would be accursed on dying once he steps out of the castle."

Sakuno's eyes widened. She turned her head to Ryoma, who had his hand unconsciously placed on her shoulders. "Curse… I-I never knew about that curse…" she said softly to him.

Shadows covered Ryoma's eyes. He gritted his teeth angrily.

"It is natural for you to hate Vesonia. One of your relative had suffered a lot," Fuji said.

Ryoma groaned.

Sakuno looked at Ryoma curiously. "A chosen son per generation…? But R-Ryoma-kun… you could freely go outside the castle…" then, her eyes widened in realization, "Don't tell me… Ryoma-kun… you have a… brother…?"

"Yes, Echizen Ryoma has an older brother," Inui supplied the information. "But other than that, besides knowing that his name is Echizen Ryoga, I have no other data about him."

Ryoma buried his nails on his palms, making them bleed a bit.

"I understand that you care for your brother," Tezuka said.

Ryoma's blood boiled.

"And that's why I know that you wouldn't let a chance like this pass," the captain added.

"What chance?" the young prince said in the coldest voice anyone had heard him say.

Sakuno turned her head down, knowing that Ryoma won't answer her questions anytime soon. "I thought that you hated Vesonia because of the present crimes they committed in our country's people…" she said softly.

"Yes, that too," Fuji said. "Recently, although we're not sure if it really were the Vesonians behind it, there had been an increase to the number of murders on some families residing in Elphiore."

"Fshuu…" Kaidoh intercepted, "They'd been around other countries too, like the ally countries, Heyrth, and Skytheria. I've been around that area, and according to some officials there, it was a fact that the crime rate increased tenfold."

"It's obvious…" Momo said, "They wanted revenge on Elphiore and they did it slowly and unremarkably to get everyone's attention. Specifically… the King of Elphiore's attention."

"It's like they're saying that there is still more to come," Oishi said worriedly.

The shadows covering Ryoma's eyes finally vanished as he stared at Eiralith with irritation. "How'd you know all these facts?"

"We're Eiralith!" Momo said proudly, "We know how Vesonia works more than anyone else in the world!"

"So this is the reason why you wanted me to join your group?" Ryoma asked.

"Relphore believed that you could help us defeat them," Fuji said.

"We know about your power, too," Tezuka said.

Ryoma grinned mischievously. "I see. You're trying to use my weakness to get me to join your stupid group."

Fuji chuckled. "Yes, that's exactly it."

"Despite our differences, we all have something in common," Tezuka said again, "We despise Vesonia more than anything else in the world. And we hunt them down."

"Besides our other job on helping other countries, our main objective is to annihilate surviving Vesonians for good," Kaidoh said.

"And that is the perfectly good reason why you should come with us, nya!" Eiji said.

"How pathetic," Ryoma said and stood up, taking Sakuno along with him. "Hedrick, give the guys a room."

Hedrick nodded.

"Wait," Tezuka said as Ryoma was on his way outside the room, "Our negotiation is still not over yet."

"I'll give you my answer tomorrow," he said as he glared at him and left the room with a loud bang on the door.

"Tomorrow? Why can't he give us his answer now?" Momo said and pouted.

Oishi narrowed his eyes. "I think… there's another reason why he hates Vesonia…"

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Sakuno stared at her hand which was currently being dragged away by Ryoma along with her. Their steps were the only thing heard throughout the hallways. She had no idea where he was taking her, but she had an idea on why he was dragging her. The prince wanted peace to think about what he should do about what he and the Eiralith talked about just now.

Finally, they stopped in front of his room. He opened the door and went inside. He carelessly pushed her on the bed and crawled on top of her.

He began kissing her roughly on her lips. She couldn't identify what expression he had right now. His bangs covered his eyes entirely. He slid between her legs and turned from kissing her to nibbling on her ear.

_This _had become Ryoma's habit whenever he wanted to think about something deep. She honestly didn't even know if Ryoma was aware of his own actions, but she doesn't mind as long as he's happy. That was her job after all; to stay by Ryoma's side and follow his orders.

He raised his hand and began rolling his palm up and down her arm. Sensing the clothes that hindered his touch on her skin, he began taking off the ribbons and laces that kept her clothes together. He unzipped—

"Ryoma-kun," the girl interrupted.

"Hn?" he asked unknowingly and continued on removing that ruffled dress of hers from her body.

"Why do you doubt them?" she asked.

"I don't want asking help from others," he replied and began sucking on her exposed neck.

"But… why are you taking time thinking about it?" she asked, trying to suppress her moan.

Ryoma stopped. He pushed back, looking directly into her eyes. He pondered on his thoughts on how he would answer to that. He didn't know it himself. He sat on the bed and rested his back on the headboard. He motioned Sakuno to get closer to him. She obeyed, and slid herself between his widely opened legs and rested her head on his lean chest. "Why aren't you answering me, Ryoma-kun?"

He didn't answer.

Sakuno narrowed her brows. "Why haven't I met your brother before?"

She felt him stiffen. He pinched Sakuno's cheek. "Never ask me about him again," he warned and kissed her nose.

He didn't answer her question again. He never does, every time if it was about something serious like this. He always leaves her without any satisfying answer. He always tells her to stop thinking about it, which makes her think about trivial matters more.

"Hai…" she answered the prince.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

The Eiralith men sat across each other in the living room the next day. Hedrick informed them that Ryoma would come to them and tell him about his decisions. The eight wizards all thought that Ryoma was not the type of person who would easily trust someone, even if they were from the underground group of men helping other people in need.

The door opened, revealing the same prince they were thinking about moments ago. But he was alone. Sakuno wasn't with him as he entered the room and sat comfortably on an empty lounge.

Hedrick served them a cup of tea each, and they began to continue their postponed negotiation.

"So, have you thought about it?" Oishi asked expectantly.

Ryoma nodded. He raised his head up to look at the eight guys in front of him seriously. "If I join your group… does that mean I have to also travel with you guys to help other countries' problems?"

"That isn't exactly the case," Inui said.

"Relphore had taken the consideration that you were the next King of Elphiore and had a lot to do. He specified that if you join Eiralith, the missions you're going to participate to will only have something to do with Vesonia," Tezuka continued.

"Hn, I see," Ryoma said, "What happens if we finally find Vesonia's hideout and finally eliminates them?"

"You may do as you please," Tezuka answered, "We only needed you for the time being to help us fight with Vesonia."

"Do you have a clue on where they might be hiding at the moment?"

"Not now, but some Eiralith members are still searching for clues on where they might be," the captain answered.

Ryoma narrowed his brows, sensing something suspicious. "You mentioned to me yesterday that you know what my power is. How did you know about that?"

"Relphore provided the information," Tezuka answered.

Relphore again! Every time they talk about this, Relphore always gets into the conversation. "So tell me… Who exactly is this Relphore person? What position does he have on this country? And how'd he know me?"

Tezuka didn't speak. It was Fuji's turn to talk to him. "The truth is, no one had ever seen Relphore's face at all. Whenever he talks to anyone of us, he would only use a part of his power to project an image of a person with amber eyes to represent him. This projection's covered entirely with heavy clothing. And whenever his projection walks around us, there are sakura petals floating around. The only thing visible about him is his amber eyes. And we're not even sure if that's his real eye color."

"Amber eyes…" Ryoma drew random lines with his index finger on the teacup's edge, "Like mine…"

The Eiralith guys looked at him surprisingly. Now that they had observed it, Relphore's eyes were definitely similar with Ryoma's. Not only the eye's color, but also its cat-like shape. Could Ryoma and Relphore be the same person? No, that's impossible.

"A-Anyway," Oishi said, ignoring their discoveries, "Rel-san is a powerful person and—"

"How did you know he's powerful if you haven't been physically with him yet?" Ryoma interrupted.

"His aura," Oishi replied after the prince cut him off. "He releases a compelling aura even when he's talking to us calmly. And we know that it doesn't even reach a tenth of his real capabilities."

"You guys seem to adore this Relphore guy to no end," Ryoma commented.

"Respect is the right word," Momoshiro said, "He's a great guy. He's concerned over those in need and helps other in anyway possible."

"Even if you haven't seen him physically do it?" Ryoma accused.

Momo glared at him. "Don't speak of Rel-san like that, you bastard!" he raised a challenging fist on the prince's direction.

"That's why we're here. To be physically there to help people in place of him," Tezuka said.

"Oh I see. He lets other people do the dirty work for him," Ryoma said.

"It's not dirt," Tezuka sternly defended, "We believe that his power is too much that's why he can't physically be with other people. He might hurt others simply by making his presence known."

"What is he, God?" Ryoma smirked arrogantly at them.

The Eiralith guys glared at him. The brat's taking too far.

"Anyway, if he's that great, then why can't he track down Vesonia's whereabouts?" Ryoma challenged.

Tezuka slammed his fist on the coffee table, making the teacups produce noise in the process, and successfully startling the prince. "Are you joining Eiralith or not?" he asked in a cold tone.

Ryoma stared at him and then to the other guys for a moment. He calmly sipped his tea before gently dropping it on the table. He sighed deeply before giving his reply. "I'm joining, but I'm not going to follow any orders from other people."

They looked at him confusedly.

"You need me because my power can help you guys take down those blasted Vesonians. And I need you because you guys can help me in my search for them," the prince said, "And so, this agreement is a win-win for both of us. We use each other for our own convenience."

"But that doesn't mean you can badmouth Rel-san," Kaidoh said as he glared at the prince.

Ryoma ignored Kaidoh and stood up, "Anyway, just tell me when my next mission is with you guys. But make sure it has something to do with Vesonia." He was about to walk away when Oishi stopped him.

"Echizen… what is your real reason for hunting them down? I don't think it has something to do with your family's curse or with the crimes they committed in your country," he said in a calm tone.

Ryoma stopped on his tracks. He never expected Oishi to ask him such a question. He didn't want to answer them, simply because they are not close enough to tell each other secrets. "Don't butt into people's business."

"Since we're a team now, you better tell us, nya!" Eiji said cheerfully, "We'll also tell you our own reasons if you tell us yours." Eiji grinned and formed a thumbs-up on his right hand.

"Not interested," Ryoma replied and shut the door. Only to have him stop when Fuji grabbed his arm and pulled him back inside the room.

"What is it? Stop bothering me!"

Fuji and Taka held Ryoma to stop him from moving. He struggled as he tried on removing the two from him. But he stopped when he noticed Inui walking closer to him, with a potion bottle in hand. He gulped nervously. "What… the hell is that?"

Inui's glasses beamed.

Ryoma had seriously never encountered such guys who weren't afraid of him even after meeting him. Those guys were a bunch of idiots—doorknobs. And he didn't even want to admit it; he was a bit nervous with the looks they're giving him. He turned to Tezuka, "Oi, tame your stupid monkeys, you doorknob!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Fuji smiled sadistically at him, "You're our _kouhai _now. And you have no right to talk to our captain like that."

"I said I don't want to follow other people's order!"

"Too late. That's how we do it in our squad," Momo grinned naughtily.

Kaidoh opened Ryoma's mouth and Inui poured his potion right in.

Ryoma choked when the liquid-thing dropped straight into his esophagus. He coughed a few times after he finally recovered from the thing and Taka and Fuji finally let him go. "What is this, some kind of initiation?"

"No," Inui grinned, "It's some kind of a truth potion."

"Eh?"

Eiji giggled. "Now, you can't lie to us anymore!"

"Or keep secrets. Man, that was irritating of you. It's so hard to have a bratty prince in our squad!" Momo said.

"Truth… potion…" Ryoma said disbelievingly.

"Yeah!" Eiji cheered, "Check this out!" He turned to Ryoma and grinned joyfully at him. "Do you have any feelings for Sakuno-chan?"

Yeah, like he'll ever answer their questions. "N—Yes, I'm deeply in love with her to the point of obsession."

Color drained out of his face.

He didn't just tell them the truth, did he?

Momo and Eiji high-fived. "I knew it! They're just too cute, nya!"

"Obsession?" Kaidoh blushed.

"Yes, I'm pretty much… obsessed with her. I don't want… her getting near any hooligans. Heck, I only… want her attention… on me. I get angry… when I see her talking… with Hedrick (Hedrick stiffened at this) or… any person with a… male organ," Ryoma said as if he was trying to stop his talking. He shut his mouth with his hand.

"So what do you do to guys getting too close with her?" Momo pursued.

"I kick… their… balls… out of… their pants…"

"And how do you express your undying love to her?"

"Sex… every night… except when… she's fertile…"

Eiralith blushed at this.

Oishi worriedly faced him. "Y-You do _it _with her every night? That's unhealthy! And what if she gets pregnant? You're too young to be even thinking about that! When did you start doing this?" he panicked.

Oishi's questions weren't even meant to be answered, but because of the potion's effect, Ryoma suddenly blurted out the answers to Oishi's not-really-meant-to-be-answered questions. "Yes, I… do it… every night... She… won't get pregnant… because I follow… the calendar… Twelve years old…"

Oishi fainted.

"You know, Echizen, there is a recent study that sex is much more pleasurable when the guy stops his sexual intercourse for at least three months. The release of orgasms would feel pleasurable for both male and female because it would release more, rather than if you do it every night, wherein it produces less," Inui informed.

"STOP ENCOURAGING HIM!" Oishi yelled to Inui and fainted again.

"A-A-A-Anyway…" Eiji trembled as he flushed beet red, not feeling comfortable of the topic one bit, "Why were y-you mad at Vesonia again?"

Ryoma tried his best to shut his mouth but his body felt like its being controlled by something (the potion probably). He bit his tongue to stop himself from talking but it was no use.

"V… Ve… so… nia… killed… h… her… p… parent... s…" He gritted his teeth when he finished talking. That was nothing but pure truth, on his part at least. Sakuno had no idea that Vesonia was behind her parents' murder and Ryoma had no intentions on telling her about it.

The Eiraliths went wide-mouthed at this. "O-Oh… I-I'm sorry, nya…" Eiji said, saddened by bringing the topic again.

Tezuka spoke up, "How did you know it was the Vesonians who did it?"

Ryoma glared at him, angered by their persistence about the topic.

"In… vesti… gations… I… sent some guys… to investigate… what happened… to her parents…"

"Wait a minute… Who is exactly this Ryuzaki Sakuno girl? How did you meet?" Oishi asked curiously.

Ryoma tried his every strength to stop talking. But it was still useless. His voice comes out on its own. "She's… a commoner… Her parents… were normal people… who own… a bakery… before they… were killed... I've met… her… when… she was… being bullied… by three… boys…"

"How romantic," Momo and Eiji commented.

If only he could speak, he would've cursed these guys to death.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Yo, Sakuno!" a familiar voice called out to her as she was sitting on a sofa inside the castle's huge two-floored library.

Sakuno turned her eyes from the book she was reading and whipped her head around to face the person who called her name. She smiled slightly when she saw the ever so familiar green eyes and black seaweed-like hair grinning at her. "Kirihara!" she said and dropped her book on the coffee table. She stood up and faced the prince's childhood friend. "How are you?"

Kirihara Akaya smiled confidently at her. "I was perfecting my teleportation spells," he said as he stepped closer towards her. He wrinkled his brows when he noticed something different about her. Besides her rare hairstyle of tying her auburn hair in high pigtails, there was something definitely odd sticking out of her façade. "What had you been up to?"

Sakuno nervously stepped back. "W-What do you mean?"

"Something's bothering you…" Kirihara said and bend over, examining her face closer.

Sakuno avoided his gaze and looked at the ground instead. She weakly smiled as she shook her head to deny his accusations of her current state. "I-I'm fine…"

"No, you're not," he retorted assertively, "There is something odd. You're worrying about something!"

She finally gave up on his insistence and answered him, "Ryoma-kun had been hiding something from me…"

"Doesn't he always?" Kirihara raised a brow then crossed his arms. "Speaking of the brat, where is he?"

She looked straight into his eyes. "He's having a meeting with Eiralith. The meeting's probably over by now."

Kirihara's eyes widened at her answer. "Eiralith? They're here? What are they doing here?"

"You better just ask Ryoma-kun about that. I had no idea. He's just keeping it from me again."

Kirihara slightly smiled miserably at the way Sakuno was looking at the ground with self-pity. "Come on, Sakuno… You know Echizen's always like that! The bastard's too self-conceited for his own good!"

She weakly nodded.

"And anyway," he stepped forward, closing the distance between them even more, "I'm always here for you… you know that." He winked at her.

Kirihara's eyes changed color and flashed gold. She couldn't stop herself from drowning inside those eyes of his. And then, her huge brown eyes suddenly turned dull and lifeless. The seaweed-head smirked. He inched closer to her face, slowly aiming for her mouth with his, mouth already parted open, and tongue slowly sticking out, unable to resist kissing her for another second.

Then, just millimeters away from kissing her, he felt his body weakened. He felt like life was slowly moving away from his body. Wait, did he say life? That could only mean…

"Ah, Echizen! So your meeting with Elphiore's Underground Gang of Justice is finally over, huh?" he said, feeling weak from what Ryoma's doing to him.

"Yes," the prince said in a cold voice. His right hand passed through Kirihara's back, making it look like he was stabbing the green-eyed man with his hand, and a mysterious emblem encircling the spot on Kirihara's back where Ryoma had his hands (wrist) on. Inside Kirihara's body, Ryoma already had the tips of his finger feel his soul. "The meeting was over… they invited me to join their group and… stop trying to kiss her… again," he said the last words with a threatening voice.

Kirihara winced in pain as he felt Ryoma's hand playing around his soul, which comes in the form of a small circular silver flame. "Oh… come on… Echizen," he said, feeling even weaker than before, "Just let me kiss her for once. Share your… blessings…"

"No," he stated bluntly.

"Okay, I'll kiss her without using my tongue!"

"You do know that I can just grab your soul and feed it to the devils, right?" A mysterious symbol of an emblem (his magic's symbol, perhaps) appeared aggressively behind Ryoma and shadows of different shapes suddenly emerged from behind him as soon as the emblem disappeared.

Kirihara gulped when he saw Ryoma's _pets. _"Yeah, I can feel that with the way you're circling your finger in my soul _and _with the way you just summoned them like that," he said sarcastically, relatively feeling the loss of life in his body, "Okay then… I won't kiss her lips… just her forehead… would that do?"

"No. Release her from your spell and get the hell out of here," Ryoma warned. Kirihara saw Ryoma's left eye had changed into color red and an image of a magical emblem, the same look and features as the one before, etched in the very same now-crimson-red orb.

"Tch. Greedy brat," Kirihara muttered (Ryoma heard it and flicked his soul lightly, making Kirihara feel like he's going to lose consciousness). He cancelled the spell on her and let her fall on his body. She was sleeping soundly on his arms. "There, I freed her. Now, let my soul go."

Ryoma removed his hand from Kirihara's body and took Sakuno from him. The shadows behind him dispatched and his left eye returned to normal.

Kirihara felt life slowly coming back to his body. He turned to Ryoma after he was fully recovered. "Geez, I was just playing with her. You've gone too far for playing with my life like that!"

Ryoma glared at him. "You're lucky I didn't take your soul away."

"I'm your best friend, in case you've forgotten, and I've—"

"Yes, I've forgotten," Ryoma cut him off.

Kirihara rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Sakuno's upset with the way you've been ignoring her questions," he said, trying to change the topic. "Why don't you just tell her the truth already? About Vesonia and how they killed her parents? And also about your brother!"

Ryoma narrowed his brows. "You should know the answers to that."

Kirihara sighed. "Yeah, but I think it's already time for her to know… Before she misread your intentions." He said the last sentence with a warning look shot straight to the prince's amber eyes.

"Just shut up and mind your own business," Ryoma hissed and left the room, carrying the sleeping Sakuno over his shoulders.

Kirihara stared seriously at Ryoma before he shut the door of the library closed, leaving his childhood friend alone inside the silent space of the room.

Ryoma silently stood still in the hallways, pondering on his thoughts about what Kirihara told him. He can't just tell her everything. Yes, he might have told Eiralith already about it despite only knowing them for a day, but that was because they made him drink a stupid truth potion. That was no reason for her to be upset. Besides, she needs to understand that he was keeping the truth from her because he doesn't want her to get hurt. He was never verbally open to her, but knowing him for five years already, she must already know that it was for her own sake. And about his brother… that was a different story.

He felt his heart suddenly ache.

Just then, the huge oak door across him slowly opened. His eyes widened when he realized whose room was that. His heart pounded with nervousness. He wanted to make a dash for it, to avoid meeting _him,_ especially at a time like this… when he was currently holding an unconscious Sakuno. But his nervousness overtook his whole body. He wanted his body to move but it just won't follow his will.

The door finally opened completely, revealing a man taller than him leaning against the doorframe.

"I knew it was you. I can feel your confused soul from inside my room," he said.

Ryoma avoided his eyes. He nodded slightly and started walking away.

"Woops, wait a sec."

The young prince's feet stopped. He slowly turned around, doing his best to conceal the fear he was feeling. "What?"

"Aren't you going to greet me properly?" the mysterious man walked over to him and leaned closer. And then, he finally noticed the girl the young prince was carrying over his shoulders. The tall man grinned. "Oh, I see you still play with your toys."

Ryoma hated those words. Every time _he's _talking about her, _he _always pertain tp her as nothing but a mere toy to the family.

Then the man's playful grin changed and turned into a scowl. Ryoma instinctually stepped a foot back.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

The Eiralith was soon dismissed by the young prince as soon as the truth potion wore off, much to Eiji and Momo's dismay. Out of all of them, those two were the ones most interested in their new member's love life. On the other hand, Inui and Tezuka were interested in how he would be able to contribute to their group through his exceptional power of taking souls of those he wished to, and even being able to summon demons' shadows at will. Oishi was concerned about his well-being, while Kaidoh and the others couldn't care less. Except for Fuji, who thought that making fun of the _now-youngest _one of the group interesting.

"The Echizens are the only ones capable of doing magic related to souls in the whole world," Inui said.

"So," Taka scratched his cheek, "If Echizen can take other people's soul, then what can his brother do?"

"I, sadly, have no data on that," Inui said.

The _Underground Gang of Justice _were seated on the headquarters meeting office, waiting for Relphore to report their triumph into making Echizen Ryoma join their squad. The place was filled with light red smoke, coming from the room's walls. They knew that it was a symbol of Rel's powerful magical aura, lingering around the area, even though he was trying his best to control it.

After a few moments, their leader finally appeared.

They all stood up simultaneously, representing their acknowledgement on the leader's presence.

Relphore walked over to an empty seat, sakura petals floating around as he appeared. He was wearing a dark navy blue hood which covered his hair entirely. His clothes were of the same color; long-sleeved with gold lines on the sleeves' hem, stitched to either side of the opening of the hood was a cloth connected to his top, with gold parallel lines, meant to hide his nose and mouth. He was wearing black plants with a brown leather belt, hidden underneath his top.

He sat up and motioned for Tezuka and the others to sit back down.

They stared at his amber cat-like eyes, and it keenly reminded them of Ryoma's own eyes. But this time, just like other times, his left eye had the image of a mysterious emblem in it. And unlike his right eye, it wasn't amber, instead, crimson red.

"So," Relphore said, staring intently into Tezuka's brown orbs, "What happened in your latest mission?"

Tezuka adjusted his diaphanous glasses and answered, "Echizen Ryoma agreed in joining us."

"Did he agree with our conditions?"

"Yes, he did. He would only join missions if it has something to do with Vesonia," he replied.

"Good," the mysterious emblem in Relphore's eyes shone slightly, "But I never thought that you'd be able to convince him that fast."

"You seem to know him well," Tezuka mentioned, remembering Ryoma's previous remarks earlier that day.

"Yes. I'm friends with his father. I first met him when he was still three years old."

"Rel-san," Eiji interjected, which didn't bother Tezuka or Relphore at all, "O'chibi told us that he doesn't know you, nya. He was skipping his lessons!"

Relphore smiled, although no one saw it since his mouth was hidden within view.

Sakura petals kept on flowing around, even though there weren't any sakura trees near them. Heck, they're inside a closed room with no windows _under _Elphiore lands.

"He's such a brat," Momo said, "But it's fun teasing him with his girlfriend!"

"Oh, the little kid has a girlfriend?" Relphore asked, intrigued and at the same time glad about it, "What's her name?"

"Ryuzaki Sakuno," Fuji answered with a smile.

Then, Rel's eyes widened. His left eye shone slightly again.

Eiralith noticed Rel's uneasiness.

"I think…" Rel said to them, "That Ryuzaki Sakuno girl could help us along with Echizen."

"What do you mean by that?"

Rel narrowed his eyes. "She possesses a dynamic magical ability." He turned his eyes to Fuji. The smiling tensai curiously looked back at him.

A strong wind blew inside the room, all thinking that it came from Rel's powerful magic, making some of Rel's bangs flow out of the hood as the hood slightly moved upwards. It was the first time Eiralith saw his hair color ever.

He had crimson-red hair.

To be continued.

* * *

><p>AN: The magic emblem is very different from Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan. It's more like Ciel Phantomhive's eye except it's more complicated like Fairy Tail's magic circle whenever they're performing magic… and it's color red.

Oh, and I'll add my Pandora Hearts to my inspiration. Acknowledgement to the respective owners. And I got the fantasy names (except Elphiore and Relphore) on a site: thefantasynamelist. blogspot. com

This fic has a lot of twists. So expect the unexpected. Thanks for the previous reviewers, I'm glad you guys like the plot. Sadly, I might discontinue this fic if I get few reviews in general… so review, nee ^^ and special thanks to **xXxvanillaprincessxXx** for your lovely reviews :) frankly, it's because of her why I update this fic ;D

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi


	3. Chapter 3

_An older boy with the same amber eyes and dark-green hair as his' stared at him with a serious face. And after he saw the fainted girl with auburn hair being carried by his younger brother's butler, the older boy frowned. The younger one bowed his head, not wanting to look at the older boy. Then, the older boy grinned knowingly._

"_Oh, I get it… Chibisuke just wanted a toy to play with," he said as he turned around. "Isn't that right, Chibisuke?" he added shortly._

_The young man tightened his fist and nodded weakly._

"_Well then, it's okay. I'm sure he'll just throw the toy away when he gets bored," the older man said again and entered his room._

**Chapter 3**

"What do you want, Ryoga?" Ryoma asked as he narrowed his brows.

Echizen Ryoga, Ryoma's older brother, bent down and leaned closer to his younger brother. He held his chin thoughtfully as he observed the girl his younger brother was carrying over his shoulders. "Nee, Chibisuke…" Ryoga straightened up and ran a hand over his dark-green hair, "Isn't this the same toy you used to play with five years ago?" His cat-like amber eyes scanned the girl. "You're still not done playing with her?"

Ryoma gritted his teeth, trying to suppress his anger and fear, as he looked on the ground.

Ryoga curiously looked at the young prince. "Nee, Chibisuke, why aren't you answering me?"

Ryoma tightened his fists. He really hated it when Ryoga calls her like some kind of useless thing—no, he meant garbage. That's how he sees Sakuno through Ryoga's eyes: garbage.

"Chibisuke?" Ryoga called again as he tilted his head confusedly.

This older Echizen was the accursed one in the family. He was the chosen son for the current generation to suffer the family's curse of not being able to get out of the castle because it would result to his instant death. And because he also had the blood of an Echizen, he possesses the power connected with souls, like his brother Ryoma.

Ryoma was actually afraid of this guy. The older one was a nice brother, but Ryoma knew that there was insanity hidden beneath his brother's soul. The taller one had shown no respect for other people's soul. He thinks of commoners as nothing but a mere play-thing. They were just something to play around when he was bored. And besides Ryoga's unusual mentality towards normal humans, Ryoma feels uneasy because of Ryoga's incredible amount of power. He admitted it; Ryoga was one scary guy who was definitely stronger than him. He knew that he had no chance in beating this guy, and he didn't know what to do if he got on his brother's bad side. That's why he was always careful with his words and actions whenever he was around. Ryoma knew as-a-matter-of-fact that 100% of his power was only 5% for Ryoga.

"Oh I get it!" Ryoga said cheerfully. Then, his cheerful attitude changed as he glared at Ryoma.

Ryoma gulped. He bowed his head lower, avoiding Ryoga's gaze.

"Chibisuke…" he said dangerously, "Don't tell me… Are _you _emotionally attached to this toy?"

The young prince could literally feel blood draining out of his body. He felt weak but his heart was beating fast because of nervousness. He stiffened when he heard Ryoga's footsteps coming closer to him, despite their already close distance.

Ryoga stopped as he was just a few inches away from Ryoma. He bent down to see Ryoma eye-to-eye. "Well?"

Ryoma gulped. He suddenly felt that he was holding his breath. So he exhaled deeply to relax his body. Soon, his breathing became normal, but he was still a bit anxious by the way his brother was looking at him. "… No, Ryoga. I'm not."

Soon after, his cheerful self (that still freaked out Ryoma anyway) returned and straightened up. "That's good to hear. I mean, a person like her is nothing but a worthless soul meant to entertain us, Soul Guardians."

Ryoma nodded, just to get it over with. He just wished that Ryoga would stop talking to him already so that he could go.

Unfortunately, fate was not on his side that day.

"Nee, Chibisuke, I think there's something interesting with that toy to make you keep her for five years. Let me borrow her for a while," Ryoga said innocently. He held out his hand, asking him to hand over the girl.

Ryoma gulped. His nervousness returned again. "… Sorry, I can't."

Ryoga pouted. "Eh? Why not? Come on! I'm your brother! Share your toys with me!" he whined and then crossed his arms, "I shared my toys to you when we were younger!"

"I'm busy Ryoga," he said as an excuse.

Ryoga grunted. "Yeah, I know you're busy since Oyaji left the Kingdom to you… but still!"

Ryoma shook his head, at the same time tensed with what he was doing since it might trigger Ryoga's mood to go down low. He turned around and began walking away, slightly feeling at ease that he was about to get freedom from his brother. Only to have him stop when Ryoga spoke again.

"Oh I know why you're still keeping her for five long years! It's because you don't know how to use her properly," Ryoga grinned then walked towards the retreating Ryoma. He grabbed Sakuno's body and lifted her up, much to Ryoma's surprise.

"What are you doing, Ryoga?" Ryoma quickly asked in panic as he turned around to see Ryoga carrying Sakuno bridal-style.

"It's been a while since I last played with a soul. I'll show you the right way how to have fun with her!" Ryoga said and ran back to his room.

Ryoma quickly followed him. "Ryoga, I said I'm busy—"

The young prince was just in time to see Ryoga's right eye turned red, etched with a magical symbol the same as his'. He was standing near his bed, supporting the unconscious Sakuno to stand on her feet with his arms wrapped around her waist.

Ryoma's eyes widened in panic. He wanted to stop his brother but his body was too scared to move. He was always like that whenever he was witnessing his brother use his magic.

Ryoga cupped Sakuno's cheek with a hand, his right eye shone slightly as he began using his magic on her.

Then, Sakuno's eyes started to open.

No, Ryoma doesn't want her to meet him yet. No, he doesn't want her to meet him ever! What was he supposed to do now?

When Sakuno's eyes opened, her usual shining russet eyes turned into a dull and lifeless one, as if she was in a trance. Ryoma felt his sweat dropping apprehensively when he saw how Sakuno stood up, still being supported by Ryoga's arms.

Ryoga grinned at him. "Have you forgotten? I can manipulate souls at will as long as they are 1000 meters from me."

Ryoma slightly nodded, remembering his brother's abilities.

Ryoma can take souls of anyone he wished to and summon demons from the underworld, whilst Ryoga could manipulate any souls at will and get his own soul to enter the Spirit World to communicate with either living or non-living souls.

There are 5 Universal Laws in their world, and one of them is that every magic power has a condition needed to be fulfilled. Ryoma's condition was he could only take souls if he were to place his hand on the person's back. He couldn't take it if he placed his hand anywhere else. Ryoga's condition was geographically-related. There was a specific limit of distance that his power could occupy. Once the soul he was manipulating steps out of the 1000-meter distance, his power would be cancelled. There are other laws too that may or may not apply conditionally on certain Soul Guardians.

Sakuno stood up straightly after then stared at Ryoma with her lifeless eyes. He noticed that her left eye changed color and turned red, etched with the same magical symbol Ryoga had. Every Echizen had that same magical symbol. That was not an exception to the Echizen brothers. Both of their magical symbols had the same look and features. And the reason why Sakuno's left eye turned into that was because Ryoga used his magic on her. The left eye of the soul he manipulates would change.

"See, Chibisuke?" Ryoga said as he smirked at his brother. "Let me show you how to play with her properly…"

Ryoma tried to keep himself from glaring.

Ryoga said to her, "Nee, Sakuno… tell me you love me."

Sakuno nodded stiffly and looked straight into Ryoga's eyes. "I love you," she said monotonously.

"Good girl." Ryoga grinned. He leaned down and kissed her.

Ryoma grabbed one of Ryoga's bedside tables and gripped it tightly out of angriness.

The two were kissing in front of Ryoma for a while when Ryoga pulled back. Ryoma noticed a few light flames flowing out of Sakuno's mouth.

Ryoga licked his lips as he smirked at Ryoma. "Her soul tastes great, too." So it was her soul that almost came out of her mouth.

Ryoma was sure that Ryoga knew all along his attachment to the girl, and was doing his best to make him jealous and mad at him. But the young prince needed to pretend how he was not affected by what he was doing to show Ryoga otherwise. "Hn."

"Now, let me feel it," Ryoga said before he puts his hand inside her body.

Ryoga didn't have the ability to take souls, but every Echizen could touch anyone's soul.

The older brother felt the tips of his hand brushed through Sakuno's soul. He smirked evilly when he saw Sakuno's expression turned weak. Ryoma twitched as he saw her like that. Ryoga wrapped his hand over Sakuno's soul, and then he frowned. "Chibisuke… this girl's soul… has never been touched before…" he said when he looked at his younger brother.

Ryoma stepped one foot back.

Ryoga frowned even more. "I knew it! You weren't playing with her properly. She's like a toy inside the box, still unopened and unused."

"I… don't feel like… playing with her soul."

Ryoga rolled his eyes. "What? It's been five years, Chibisuke!"

He circled his fingers over Sakuno's soul. Sakuno turned weaker to the point that she fell down.

"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma quickly moved closer to her. He knelt down and gently placed a hand over her shoulders concernedly.

Ryoga grinned evilly. "That's right, Chibisuke… Let's play together."

Ryoma shot him a look.

The Soul Manipulator pointed to Ryoma's hands with his eyes. "Get your hand inside her body so that we could play with her soul together."

Ryoma glared at him. His brother was taking advantage of his fear of him. He just wanted to get out of there and take Sakuno away from him. He looked at her and saw that she was breathing heavily. "If we both play with her soul… she might lose consciousness," Ryoma reasoned.

"So?" Ryoga really had no heart, "She's just going to faint. We're not killing her or anything." Then, he glared at his younger brother and took his hand away from Sakuno, finally relieving her of the pain he inflicted in her poor soul. Sakuno dropped weakly on Ryoma's chest. "You're acting weird, Chibisuke. We used to do this together with our previous maids and butlers when we were younger." He stood up and placed a hand on his hips. His eyes glinted with fury when he looked at Ryoma more, and slightly seeing Ryoma's soul through his right eye. "You're getting weak…" he said when he saw how Ryoma's smaller-than-expected flame soul was floating inside his body.

Ryoma glared back, even though he had tried his best not to. "It's not my fault you're growing stronger each day!"

"Chibisuke," Ryoga hissed, which made Ryoma's fear of him returned. "I'm not getting stronger… _You're _just getting weaker." He looked at Sakuno and she was still sitting on the floor, gasping for breath. "This toy of yours had made you weak! Don't tell me the crap that you're still in love with her!" he yelled.

Ryoma gritted his teeth. "I'm not! I'm going now!" he grabbed Sakuno's upper arm and pulled her up. But before he was outside the room, Ryoga spoke one last time, "I'm just telling you this, Chibisuke… Forget the feelings you have for her," Ryoga looked at him with serious eyes, "Trust me, you're only going to get hurt."

Ryoma paused from moving. "… I know."

With that, Ryoma left with the still-under-Ryoga's-magic Sakuno.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Ryoga broke his magic on Sakuno once midnight came. The older one actually forgot to return her to normal and no one reminded him, so he just dispelled it once he remembered. Besides, his brother didn't seem to care. He walked towards the balcony, looking at the forever-dark skies of the castle. He never saw the skies in its normal blue color, simply because he could not go out of the castle, else he'd die. At first, he didn't particularly like the fact that fate had chosen him to carry the curse. He was young and he wanted to see the world, meet people, and do other stuffs. He tried to run away but he knew he'll only die once he does so. He even wanted to just die to end his pain already.

But when he found out that his mother was pregnant with another baby, he was delighted. He wanted to have a baby brother ever since he could walk. He wanted someone to play with. And that's why he was more than happy once he saw his little brother for the first time. He smiled at him, and it made him even happier when his younger brother smiled back at him for the first time. How he really treasured that brother of his.

They always play together. His hobby was doing stuff to people's soul and found it amusing to toy around with. He taught his brother to do the same thing. And to his enchantment, Ryoma seemed to have fun with playing with people's souls too. No one could blame him; that's the only thing he was capable of doing and he never really experienced having to play outside the castle under the sun. And once in a while, he fell in love with ordinary girls his age who visit the castle to play with him. One or two girls fell in love with him, too. But both parties knew that it was an impossible relationship because of his curse.

He began to train his skills more, since he had nothing better to do anyways. He thought that maybe, if a terrorist decides to attack the castle, he could help out. That's why he trained so much to increase his abilities. But his evil mind, the one that was born out of his hatred of his curse, kept on bothering him about his desires on playing with human souls.

And it seemed to worsen when one day, his little brother came home with his butler, Hedrick, who was carrying a fainted little girl. He knew that his brother fell in love with that girl, Sakuno. He didn't know how, but he was positive that Ryoma's in love with her. Honestly, he was really happy for him. But there is a problem…

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Ryoma sat on the bed as he watched Sakuno sleeping peacefully. He looked at her guiltily, for being unable to protect her from Ryoga. But he swore to himself that he would get stronger one day and he would beat Ryoga, so that he could finally do whatever he wants and he'll be able to live freely with her.

He knows that Ryoga is a nice person. He grew up with him. They used to play together as children. But as he remembered those times now, he really felt like a real jerk for playing with innocent souls like that. But it wasn't his fault. Ryoga was the one who taught him that playing with souls is _fun. _

When he met Sakuno by accident in one of the streets in Elphiore, that's when he realized how foolish he was for even touching people's souls for entertainment. But even though she changed him, though she may not know it herself, he was still, admittedly, entertained whenever he plays with Kirihara, Hedrick and other people he knows' souls. But he does it now just to threaten people that annoyed him.

Ryoma caressed Sakuno's auburn hair gently. He lied down next to her and slowly closed his eyes; letting sleepiness get to him.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Three months later, Eiralith appeared before him again.

His brow twitched. He guessed that he was off on his first mission ever.

"Are you sure this mission has something to do with Vesonia? Because if it doesn't, I'm going to get you all massacred," he warned dangerously as he looked at the group of Eiralith members who were standing before him.

"Yes, we're sure," Momo said confidently. "I was the one who researched about the case. And the clues had something to do with Vesonians!"

Some maids and butlers were walking back and forth the castle, each carrying Ryoma's luggage. He was off on a journey towards Heyrth, an ally country, together with Tezuka, Kikumaru, Momoshiro and Inui. He wondered where the other members that he previously met were. Momo was the one who answered him. He said that even though they are a squad, it doesn't mean that they get to handle the same case. They had too many members to handle the case, and Relphore was the one who picked the right people suited for the job. Sometimes, other squad members join them in their missions. And Taka-san and the others were currently handling other cases in another country, so they were occupied at the moment.

The last maid dropped Ryoma's last luggage on the carriage's roof along with the other luggage from Tezuka and the others. "Echizen-sama, you're all set," she smiled.

Ryoma nodded then turned to Sakuno, who was watching him from the entrance door.

Eiji nudged Momo and both of them got intrigued by what was going to happen between the two love birds.

"A-Anou… Ryoma-kun… take care, okay? I'll pray for your safety," Sakuno said.

"I'll send one of my demons to inform you if I've arrived there already," he said. "And always bring Karupin with you whenever you're heading out."

Sakuno nodded timidly.

"Ja," Ryoma waved an arm and entered the carriage. Hedrick wasn't allowed to come with him, since Ryoma was going on a journey as an Eiralith member, not as the King/Prince of Elphiore.

Tezuka and the others bid farewell to her before they entered the carriage.

Usually, Eiralith's form of transportation would be jumping from one roof to another until they get to their destination (because they wanted to train themselves _and _they were short in income). But Ryoma told them that he wouldn't mind giving them a ride until they reach the train station as long as they don't make too much noise inside the carriage. He also didn't mind paying for the trip's fares.

With that, Sakuno watched as the carriage disappeared from her sight.

Hedrick cleared his throat after he watched Sakuno looking dazedly at where the carriage disappeared to. "Ryuzaki-sama, there is someone who wanted to see you."

Sakuno looked at him with curiousness. "Who is it?"

Hedrick turned around and gestured for the visitor to appear.

She curiously wondered what Fuji Syuusuke wanted with her when he showed himself.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Now that Eiralith has an outrageously rich prince as a member, they knew they shouldn't be surprised when he'd suddenly tell them that he had a mansion in Heyrth and that he wouldn't mind if they stayed over there until they finish their mission. But still, it was surprising. Heyrth was one of the richest countries in the world, ruled by an egoistic King who happened to have almost all of the riches in the world, just like Ryoma. So, it was utterly surprising for them, especially Momo and Eiji, to hear that Ryoma owned a lot there.

After a long train-ride, a dizzy journey on the waters, and long walk through the jungles, they finally arrived in Heyrth a week after they left Elphiore.

And just as Ryoma said, he really does have a standing mansion in one of the grounds in Heyrth, a few kilometers away from the town square. And even though it was not as large as their cursed castle in Elphiore, it was still _huge._

It was nighttime when they arrived at his house in Heyrth so everybody decided to call it a day and rest their tired butts off.

Ryoma sat down on the bed. His left eye change its color and his magical symbol appeared in it. Another magic symbol the same as that one suddenly appeared in front of him. One demon-like creature crawled out from the middle of the circle and jumped into Ryoma's lap. Then, the magic symbol in front of him disappeared and his left eye returned to normal. This was a cycle whenever he was using magic. His left eye would change color along with the appearing of his magical emblem on it.

Ryoma stared indifferently at one of his demon _pets. _The one he summoned was a furry circular-shaped demon with dots as eyes and one horn in the middle of his furry forehead. The little creature also had no mouth, eyes, or legs. His fur's color was _periwinkle. _If one would look at the creature from afar, he'd only look like a furry tennis ball that automatically jumps up and down. The thing could only jump and voice out small '_Pui, pui~' _to get someone's attention.

"Go jump back to Elphiore and tell Ryuzaki that we've arrived," he ordered the little demon. He called the creature 'Pui' because of the noises he makes.

"Pui pui pui~" Pui answered happily. He shortly jumped thrice on Ryoma's lap before he jumped to the window frame. "Pui pui!" he said, probably saying that he'll get the job done well and not to worry. From there, the fur-ball jumped a few times before jumping all the way to the skies. "Pui~"

Ryoma watched as Pui disappeared thousands of miles in the night sky. From what he calculated, Pui would arrive in Elphiore in five minutes. He lied down tiredly on the bed. He wished that Pui could grow large like Karupin so that he would be able to ride on him and he would get to avoid long journeys just to get in another country. But unfortunately, that was how large Pui can go. The fur-ball also had a twin sister named Pai. The violet-colored fur-ball could voice out _'Pai pai~' _and served completely as the counterpart of Pui. But unlike Pui, Pai could fly. The problem was that Pai couldn't fly steadily because of the wind and her weight.

Ryoma smirked when he remembered the first time Sakuno saw Pai and Pui. She thought they were too cute that she almost didn't let them go when it was time for them to return to the demon world. But Pai and Pui shouldn't be underestimated because of their size and cuteness. The two could actually eat as many souls as they want whenever they begin to feel scared.

He closed his eyes, feeling drowsiness kicking in. Tezuka told them that they would meet Heyrth's king first thing tomorrow, so he needed to prepare his blunt and arrogant opinions for his meeting with the King. He had met Heyrth's King once, but that was during the time when he was not the king yet and they were still both princes of their own country.

The next morning, when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Pui rolling his circular body all over his body. The little fellow looked like he was having fun as he rolled himself from Ryoma's neck (which tickled him a bit because of Pui's soft fur) to his stomach, then to his arms, and back to his stomach again. Little hearts were floating from outside Pui's body. He really was having fun with that.

Ryoma quickly sat up, making Pui stumble from his chest and rolled down to his lap and bounced on the bed. "Pui?"

Ryoma glared at him. "I think it's time for you to return to your world."

"PUI!" Pui whined and rolled away.

Funny, the fur-ball didn't think of jumping away from him and instead rolled away. In which, the former would surely get him away.

Ryoma sighed deeply. He looked at Pui as he rolled away from him and eventually bumped on the closed door. He thought about it; Pui looked like he did well with his job, so why not let him play around for a while? Besides, Pui was not the type of demon who would eat souls whenever he feels like it. Pui is pretty tamable.

"Fine," he grunted as Pui continued on bumping into walls, tables, chairs and cabinets. "Let's go." He won't admit it to anyone, but he had a soft spot for animals, especially cats. He had an unexplainable attachment to fur-ball like Pui, too, although that fascination couldn't be explained. Maybe he just likes to hold ball-shaped creatures the size of a tennis ball.

Pui stopped rolling and jumped happily on Ryoma's shoulder. "Pui~"

Ryoma smirked. "What did Ryuzaki say when you got to her?"

"Pui, PUI pui pui pui PUI PUI PUI! Pui... pui, pui pui," Pui said.

"Yeah, I _understood _everything you said," Ryoma remarked sarcastically and walked towards the living room, where he saw Tezuka and the others already there.

"The King's servant just arrived and he told us that the King wanted us to join him for breakfast!" Momo cheerfully said. Eiji nodded happily. Then, they saw the little demon sitting on Ryoma's shoulder.

"AGH! What's that?" Momo pointed on Ryoma's shoulder.

"It's a huge mouse!" Eiji yelled in panic. He took out a paper fan that literally came from nowhere and began slapping Ryoma with it. Pui managed to get away from Eiji and jumped around the living room in panic.

"OW (SLAP)! Kikumaru-senpai! Stop (SLAP) HITTING ME! (SLAP) HE'S NOT A (SLAP) MOUSE! (SLAP)" Ryoma angrily grabbed Eiji's paper fan (his eyes glinted with fury) and began slapping Eiji in a fast manner.

"OW! O'chibi! Stop it! Ow—HEY! No hitting below—ow—the belt!"

Momo, Tezuka and Inui only watched them from afar. Then, while Ryoma was still slapping Eiji for revenge, Momo noticed the cause of the ruckus jumping on the sofa to the coffee table and finally, to Tezuka's head.

"AH!" Momo pointed to Tezuka's head, "The rat's in your head now, buchou!"

Tezuka's glasses beamed.

Momo was about to punch the _rodent _away when he saw Tezuka's warning look on him. He immediately stopped. He knew that there is a possibility that the creature could avoid his attack and accidentally make him hit his buchou's face instead.

Pui sighed in relief and watched as his master kept on slapping a person he had never seen before with a white paper fan. The stranger was down on the ground, his arms and legs twitching because of Ryoma's attacks. "Pui~" Pui said dreamily.

"Pui…?" Momo asked curiously.

"Explain what this thing is, Inui," Tezuka turned to Inui as Pui kept on bouncing on his head.

Inui adjusted his glasses and took out a book. "I suppose that it's one of Echizen's demons."

"Eh? Echizen's demon?" Momo asked again.

Finally, Ryoma let Eiji go and walked casually towards the other Eiralith members and threw the paper fan back to Kikumaru. "He's one of the demons I could summon, Pui."

Eiji's eyes sparkled in amusement as he sat up. "He's soooooo cute, too!"

Ryoma glared at him. "Then why did you try to hit him when you first saw him?"

Eiji laughed weakly. "I just thought that he was a mouse, nya!" He happily ran towards Tezuka to get a better view of Pui.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Just don't do anything to scare him again, or else he'll eat your souls."

Eiji was on his way to pet Pui, who was still on Tezuka's head, when he stopped after he heard what Ryoma said. "Pui-chan… eats souls?"

Ryoma nodded indifferently.

Eiji immediately took his hands away from Pui.

"He's a demon. It's natural for him to eat souls. That's his food," Ryoma replied.

Eiji forced a laugh and hid behind Inui. "Don't judge a creature by its cuteness, nya!" he whispered to Inui.

"Anyway," Tezuka interrupted sternly. "It's time for us to go. The King's servant is waiting for us."

"Hai!" Momo and Eiji excitingly responded.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Eiralith stared back and forth to the King and then to Ryoma. The two seemed to be engaged in a silent (glaring) conversation. They just arrived a few minutes ago in Heyrth's castle and were greeted by raining red roses once they entered the King's main office. Small rose petals were also scattered around the office's red carpet, randomly leading the way to the King's table. Behind the table was his leather chair, and sitting on it was the proud and rumored-to-be egoistic King of Heyrth—who seemed to have known their newest member, Echizen Ryoma.

King Atobe Keigo of Heyrth smirked arrogantly upon seeing his long-time friend/rival, Prince Echizen Ryoma of Elphiore. A red rose was resting on his hand as he greeted, "Ore-sama could not believe that you joined your own country's Underground Group of Investigators."

Ryoma smirked back. "I couldn't believe that you're finally the King of these monkeys." Then, he looked at him with mockery as he said, "Oh wait. Actually, I'm not that surprise, seeing that you're a monkey as well."

Atobe's smirk turned into a frown. So did Ryoma's. That's when their silent conversation commenced, leaving the Eiralith members surprised by their discovery that their little member had known the King of Heyrth since they were little.

Tezuka cleared his throat to interrupt the two's growing tension. "I suppose you summoned us to help you with an investigation regarding your country?"

Atobe broke his glaring contest with Ryoma and turned to Tezuka, a person he also knew since they were small. The flamboyant King did not forget to greet his rival of all time, Tezuka Kunimitsu. He ignored the furry creature sitting on top of Tezuka's head and said, "Ah, yes, ore-sama did. But it really wasn't ore-sama's idea. Oshitari Yuushi was the one who proposed it, seeing that Eiralith was still in search for Vesonia's whereabouts."

"We had gathered information that your townspeople were also suffering from Vesonia's attacks. Is that true?" Momo interrupted.

"Ah, yes. That's a fact that even ore-sama couldn't deny."

Ryoma smirked arrogantly (again). "So I guess you're really not that much of a great person after all, seeing that you still need _my _people to help you out."

Atobe stood up gracefully and walked towards Ryoma. He stared down into Ryoma's amber eyes challengingly. "You're the one to speak," he said sarcastically, "Seeing that _you _also can't locate their hideouts _or _help your people."

The young prince of Elphiore grunted.

Atobe snapped his fingers and his butler arrived. "Lead my visitors to this castle's better-than-Elphiore's Dining Area. I'll follow as soon as I finish some words to the brat," he emphasized his insult to the cursed castle as he looked at _the brat_.

The butler bowed obediently and asked Eiralith to follow him. They just followed him outside, with Eiji taking worried glances to Ryoma and Atobe.

When the door of his office shut closed, Atobe began to walk towards the window. "So what made you join Eiralith?"

When Ryoma didn't answer, the King just assumed the answer he thought would be logical of Ryoma to have. "Sakuno's killers: the Vesonians. Is ore-sama right?"

"Hmph," Ryoma looked away.

"The Vesonia had obviously made it clear for us; they wanted revenge. And since Heyrth is an ally country, they wouldn't have second thoughts in attacking us, and the other ally countries as well. But ore-sama supposed that those facts do not bother you. Instead, you're bothered by what they did to Sakuno's life," Atobe said confidently, "And it also seems that you've become desperate… for joining Eiralith."

Ryoma looked at him. "I didn't know Eiralith existed before they introduced themselves to me. I just thought that they would be able to help me find them."

Atobe smirked again and walked past him. "Anyway, since you're currently an Eiralith member and NOT the prince of Elphiore, you must obey ore-sama's orders."

The King opened the door and went out, shortly followed by Ryoma to Atobe's _better-than-his' _dining area.

When the two royalties arrived, Tezuka and the others were already seated across each other with a long marble table between them. Culinary of different countries surprised them when they saw different dishes atop the table.

Momo's mouth watered in delight and hunger.

"Pui~" Pui looked disgusted at the sight. He'd rather eat animal souls than that.

Pui jumped off Tezuka's head and back into Ryoma's shoulder. He _pui-ed _some words to his master, complaining about what he would eat.

"Don't worry," Atobe said assuredly, "There are some convicts scheduled for their death sentence today. Your pet could eat a soul or two."

Ryoma nodded then turned to Pui. "Heard that? Go on," he muttered then motioned for Pui to go. A tending maid nervously leaded Pui the way to where they keep the convicts, afraid that the cute and furry but perilous little demon creature would be eating her soul. "Oh… and don't eat the maid," he ordered reluctantly which made the maid even more nervous. Pui just nodded happily.

With Pui out of the way, Ryoma sat next to Momo, who was still trying to resist himself on attacking the mouth-watering food set in front of him. Across the two were Eiji, Inui and Tezuka. Eiji was also trying to keep himself from slobbering from the good food in front of him. Inui was writing something on his notebook, while Tezuka remained silent with his arms crossed. Atobe sat on the middle proudly and said, "Be honored by Ore-sama's fabulous breakfast prepared just for you, peasants."

"Now… Let us talk about this case that's connected with Vesonia while we eat this marvelous meal," the King added.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Boy, that was some good food!" Momo said satisfyingly, rubbing his bulged stomach as they were walking towards one of the town's inn.

"Yeah," Ryoma commented dryly, "You ate everything like a person who had never eaten before in his life."

Momo pouted while Eiji chuckled lightly. "Momo-chin is always like that. He's a glutton, nya! You better get used to it!"

Then, Ryoma turned to Inui, who had only ate three spoons of his meal and was busy writing something in his notebook the whole time they were eating. "And Frankenstein barely touched his food," he said.

"I was gathering data about the food," Inui defended.

"Inui's also like that! O'chibi," he grinned at Ryoma, "you better get used to it since you're now one of us!"

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Yeah right." Pui just happily seated himself on Ryoma's shoulder. He was quite satisfied with two evil souls he had eaten that morning, thanks to King Atobe's _generosity_.

"We're here," Tezuka suddenly said. The group stopped in front of a wooden average-sized inn. "From what Atobe said, this inn had a recent case of mysteriously disappearing people. It was suspected that Vesonians were behind it."

They stared at the inn for a while before a person with gray hair wearing thick glasses opened the entrance door. He was a bit surprised when he saw them but quickly recovered. "Are you the guys King Atobe sent to investigate the missing people?"

"Yes," Tezuka answered.

"C-Come in," the man said nervously.

When they entered, they saw everything made out of wood. Wooden chairs, wooden table, wooden walls, wooden windows, wooden doors. The reception table was also made of wood. Even the staircase leading to the rooms of the inn. The only things not made out of wood are the lamp hanging above the reception table and the small telephone glued to the wooden wall just below the wooden staircase. The man politely asked them to sit in the lobby while he would go to the kitchen to prepare them tea.

"A-Anou," Eiji asked out of curiousness, "Had there ever been any fire accidents in this inn?"

The man was in the process of dropping cups of tea on the table when Eiji asked. He laughed amusedly as he sat across them. "No, there had been none. Even though everything is made of wood, the materials are really fire-proof."

They all raised a brow at his statement.

The old man smiled, emphasizing his laughing lines more. "I have an employee here who can use magic. True, before that employee was hired here, I was afraid of fire accidents that may occur in the future. But I don't have enough profits to upgrade my inn. That's when he came to me and volunteered on using his magic on every wooden material in this inn. And in exchange, I have to hire him as an employee here. He was in need of money for his living."

"What kind of magic?" Inui asked, intrigued.

"Water magic," the old man replied. "Everything you see here now is made of water."

Inui's brows narrowed. "How was that possible?" he knocked on the wooden table in front of him. And just like a normal wood, it was solid.

The old man rested his back on the chair's backrest. "I really don't know," he said truthfully.

Ryoma turned to Inui. "It is possible for some Element Users to change solid to liquid without affecting the solid's outer appearance and resistance."

Eiji, amazed at O'chibi's knowledge, jumped on him and hugged him tightly. "Wow! O'chibi's so smart!"

"How did you know about that?" Inui asked, quite disheartened at his lack of data that was still known by the young Elphiore prince nevertheless.

"Hedrick just tutored me about different magicians' abilities and conditions the day before you told me about my first mission," he replied and looked at the wooden table with narrowed brows, "But for an Element User to be able to do that, there is a huge condition at stake."

Eiji tilted his head while Momo looked at him curiously. "Condition like what?"

"You all know that wizards have to have a condition before or after doing their field magic," Ryoma explained, unconsciously making his teammates awe by his knowledge that he thinks was only normal for normal people to know. And by that, he just mentally noted that his teammates are idiots. "If the magic is strong and unique, then the condition is more immense than normal. _The higher the magic is, the bigger the condition_—that is the first of the 5 Universal Laws." He turned his eyes to Eiji and Momo. "Don't you know those facts?"

Tezuka rolled his eyes. "We do," he replied, "But what Kikumaru and Momoshiro were asking is what kind of condition that employee would have to be able to turn solid into liquid without changing the solid's basic traits."

Ryoma smirked arrogantly at them. "I have no idea (Eiji and Momo comically fell on the ground)," he turned to the old man, "What did your employee do before or after he performed the magic?"

"Oi Echizen!" scolded Momo with a fist raised just above his chest, "You were acting as if you know everything! How dare you trick us!"

"No one knows what a certain wizard's condition is, idiots," Ryoma commented.

"True," Tezuka nodded. Inui wrote down his updated data.

"You guys must have a condition too for you to be able to do your magic," Ryoma suddenly said. "I don't know why you don't know these stuffs."

"Actually, Relphore trained us to use strong magic without meeting high conditions," Inui said.

The young prince eyes' widened at this. "How was that even possible?"

"The basic fact of_ 'The stronger the magic is, the higher the condition'_ is undeniably true. But Relphore could train magicians to alter that rule," Tezuka said.

Ryoma's eyes narrowed. Then, his eyes widened when he realized it. "Relphore can alter rules… He's the…"

Eiji grinned. "That's right! Rel-san is a Law Manipulator. He could easily change one of the five Universal Laws of a person with just a snap of his fingers!"

"That's why in Eiralith's case, '_The smaller the condition, the higher the magic is'_," Momo said. "He altered the first law."

"So that's another reason why he's never physically present," Ryoma said, finally understanding them, "That's his condition as a Law Manipulator."

"Yes," Inui said, "That is the reason why only eight of us Eiralith members were granted by Relphore's powers. If he were to alter another member's Universal Law, then he might just disappear. And he can't alter the Universal Law in general. He can only alter one specific law. And he can only alter a person's Universal Law; not the world's. The Universal Law still applies to him. And because of that, his power still has to meet a higher condition."

"Then why doesn't he apply his power on himself in the first place? That way, he would be able to use his power without using conditions, like you guys," Ryoma asked.

"That is also one of his conditions," Tezuka said. "He won't be able to use his power on himself. And if he were to use his power, it would only work once he applies it to another person."

"Come to think of it," Eiji said in a thinking manner, "Rel-san had stopped using his power since five years ago."

Ryoma looked at him. He had met Sakuno five years ago, too.

"U-Uhm…" the old man nervously muttered. He had a white handkerchief wiping the sweat off his forehead. "E-Excuse me…"

"Oh, right, the mission," Momo said uninterestedly and they all turned around to face the old man.

"So?" Ryoma asked again. "What did that employee do before or after he performed the magic?"

"I really don't know about those conditions and stuff you just said… but what I do know is that my employee, Ya—"

"I'll introduce myself formally to them, if you don't mind," a mysterious voice cut the old man off when he appeared inside the lobby.

The Eiralith guys stared at him. He had purple hair and foggy glasses. He had a straight posture and the way he moves was mindful.

"Oh," the old man smiled. "This is the employee I'm talking about," he stood up.

The Eiralith guys also stood up. Tezuka walked over to him and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu."

"Yagyuu Hiroshi," the purple-haired lad said. "And you were sent by King Atobe to help us with our dilemma, am I right?"

"Yup!" Momo grinned happily. "By the way, I'm Momoshiro Takeshi."

"Inui Sadaharu."

"Kikumaru Eiji, nya."

"…"

Kikumaru nudged Ryoma. "Oi, O'chibi! Introduce yourself formally to him," he whispered.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Echizen Ryoma."

Yagyuu seemed to be surprised when Ryoma said his name. "By any chance… are you related to anyone from Elphiore?" he asked in a gentle manner.

Ryoma raised a brow at this. "Sort of."

Momo and Eiji snickered. What the owner of the inn and his employee don't know is that Echizen is the actual King of Elphiore.

"Hmm… Anyway," he bowed politely in front of them. "Thank you for helping us with this case."

The owner nodded. "Because of what was happening, there are fewer travelers who go here to spend their nights. They're afraid that they maybe the next victim."

"Oh… by the way…" Yagyuu took out a small white envelope from his pocket. "I've received this mysterious message sent by a person with a mysterious magical emblem etched on the side of neck." He gave the envelope to Tezuka, "I think you guys may get a clue from this. That guy maybe the person responsible for the missing visitors."

Tezuka took the envelope from Yagyuu with a curt nod before he hesitantly opened it. Curious, Echizen and the others scooted closer to him to see what was inside the message. Tezuka unfolded the paper inside the envelope.

And it revealed a drawing of a magical emblem.

The Eiralith's eyes' widened upon recognizing the magical emblem.

Ryoma tightened his balled fist, mentally pleased that this mission definitely had something to do with the group of people he hated the most.

That emblem is Vesonia's symbol.

Yagyuu oddly looked at them. "By the way, that symbol is the same one as the tattooed symbol on the guy's neck that gave me that letter. Have you had any idea what that symbol meant?"

Ryoma grinned satisfyingly (with a hint of evilness). Pui looked at him curiously.

"That means… Vesonia's really the one responsible for this…" Eiji noted disbelievingly.

Then, Tezuka turned his head to look at his teammates. "There's a message written at the back," he said monotonously.

"What did it say?" Momo asked curiously. Inui was already prepared in taking down notes.

Tezuka showed them the letter. And there, it was written in neat handwriting the words:

_Eiralith-0; Vesonia-10. Let's meet later tonight._

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Back in Elphiore, Hedrick watched as Fuji-sama hugged a crying Ryuzaki-sama on his arms consolingly. She had just let out all of her frustrations on the Eiralith tensai, after a day of her vigorous training. Ever since Echizen-sama and the other Eiralith members left, Fuji-sama had been training the girl to strengthen her power, which peaked the butler's curiosity since he knew that only he, his master Echizen and Kirihara Akaya knew about her power. He had no idea how Fuji-sama found out about it.

Now that he thought about it, maybe Eiralith planned all of this from the start. They purposely assigned Echizen-sama for a mission so that he would be away while they train Ryuzaki-sama…

… to join them as one of the Eiralith's members.

To be continued.

* * *

><p>AN: So, what do you think of Pui? Just imagine Kuriboh from Yu-Gi-Oh except he had no legs and arms. And is Rel's power complicated? If that is so, feel free to ask me; I'll answer your questions :)

I'm really delighted that many found this fic interesting. But I'm still quite hesitant in continuing it *scratches head* I'm troubled that this fic might turn out bad and people wouldn't like it anymore :( But still, I'm glad that you guys find it interesting as of yet :D I hope, really hope, you like this one, too. And I'm really thankful that you guys wanted me to continue it. I needed encouragement ;)

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi.


	4. Chapter 4

_Seriously, at first, the young boy with amber eyes and green hair just goes in that particular place to see the pathetic young girl with auburn hair and russet eyes get bullied by boys their age. He had no idea why they were bullying her, but the point was, he was having fun watching her in pain. _

_And then, one day, when he decided to go in that particular alley between two houses to see her, he noticed something odd with her. Besides seeing no traces of bullies near her, she was… _smiling. _It was the first time he saw her smile like that. And she was kneeling on the ground, looking (smiling) at something on the ground._

_And unbeknownst to him, he was starting to soften up after he saw her smile. _

_He rolled his eyes downward to see what she was smiling about. Then, he saw that she was feeding a kitten. A light-brown Himalayan kitten. _

"_There you go…" she said with a soft tone that melted his heart on the spot. "You eat until you're full… then I'll eat the rest." The kitten meow-ed a little then began munching on the roll of bread on her hand. The girl watched the kitten with a gentle smile. "You know… when I was roaming around the bakery, a nice old man saw me and kindly bought me that roll of bread. He told me that I should fill my stomach with this… but I believe that Karupin-chan needs it more than I do…" she said as she patted the kitten's head._

_The young man stood frozen on his spot. He began feeling guilty for just watching her get hurt from those three boys that always come to frighten her. He unconsciously began walking towards her. And just as he was near the corner of the alleyway, his butler appeared behind him. "Echizen-sama, it's time for your lessons."_

_Although the young man didn't want to go, he turned around nonetheless, silently hoping that the bullies would not show themselves again. With that, the butler guided him to the carriage. He entered, and the driver drove back to the dark cursed castle of Elphiore._

_The girl turned her head around just in time to see a carriage speeding away from where she was. She stared at the carriage with unreadable eyes before she turned back to the kitten; only to see the kitten already finished eating the roll of bread. The girl smiled, ignoring the rumbling of her stomach._

**Chapter 4**

Momo narrowed his brows confusedly. "Eiralith: 0; Vesonia: 10… Let's meet later tonight?" he asked as he read the message from the letter again.

Ryoma smirked at him. "Isn't it obvious? They're challenging us."

"And they're saying that they'll come for us tonight," Tezuka said.

The owner of the inn looked at him nervously. "D-Does that mean that they'll attack this inn again tonight?" he asked, feeling complete uneasiness and fear.

Ryoma looked at him with confidence. "Yep… and I can't wait."

"Don't worry, nya!" Eiji said to the owner, "We'll protect you!"

Momo scrunched his nose. "They just offered themselves to us. I don't know if they're insulting us or they're just plain stupid."

"Either way, it's our advantage," Tezuka said, "That is why we must never let our guard down."

"And this saves us the effort of looking for them and searching for clues of their whereabouts," Inui added as he adjusted his glasses with a glint.

Tezuka turned to the owner. "Sir, may we request permission to evacuate all current guests in this inn? I'm afraid there will be a battle that will take place here tonight. And it's for the safety of the customers."

"O-Of course."

Yagyuu looked at them with unreadable eyes.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Later that night, there were no other people inside the inn besides Eiralith and Yagyuu. The latter offered his help to catch whoever the Vesonians are since he was also a magic user just like them. Tezuka was reluctant at first but when Inui summarized the probability of a higher chance to win against Vesonia with Yagyuu, he finally agreed. Besides, Tezuka thought that Yagyuu might be of great help and use and maybe someday, if somehow he proved himself strong enough, he might ask him to join Eiralith. The owner and the previous visitors of the inn just stayed at Heyrth's castle under King Atobe's guidance for their assured safety.

Eiralith decided to have at least one man in every room of the inn to ensure that the whole place is guarded. All in all, the inn had ten rooms. There are five rooms across another five rooms with the hallway standing in the middle. And as expected, everything was still made of wood.

And since they are short in people, Tezuka ordered Ryoma (which irritated the prince but followed him nevertheless) to summon some demons to guard unoccupied rooms. Ryoma had been assigned to the far end room, Momo was assigned to the room next to Ryoma's, Eiji was guarding the room across Momo, Tezuka was guarding the room closest to the wooden staircase, Yagyuu was asked to guard the room across Tezuka's and Inui was assigned to the lobby. The other vacant spaces had Ryoma's demons guarding them.

It had already been two hours since they started waiting for Vesonia to arrive. He was getting impatient and even thought that the Vesonians decided to call it off. He gritted his teeth angrily at that. He doesn't want to have this mission go to waste. He wanted to catch Vesonia already and get his revenge on them for killing Sakuno's parents, and indirectly, for ruining her life. The only thing he hears from the room was the clock ticking; mocking him of the time wasted every second. He clicked his tongue annoyingly for the umpteenth time. There were no signs of Vesonians yet. His demons were still calm and motionless in their positions.

That's when he heard a noise coming from Yagyuu's assigned room. He quickly stood up in alertness. He was about to go out of his room but he stopped midway when he remembered Tezuka's strict orders: not to leave their assigned rooms until it was sure that the Vesonians had arrived. Then, since he's a Soul Guardian, he began feeling the drastic disappearance of Yagyuu's soul.

He immediately ran out of his room, not caring if he disobeyed his leader's orders. He told them that he doesn't want to follow orders from anyone the first time they asked him to join them, anyway. He stopped when he was in front of Yagyuu's door. He quickly opened it. When he did, he felt Yagyuu's soul finally disappeared, meaning… he was dead.

And along with that discovery, he saw the room burning with fire.

He gritted his teeth.

That's the third of the Universal Laws: _Once the magician dies, all the magic he had done to change a person, thing and place would be cancelled_. And since Yagyuu was the one who transformed every wood in that inn into water and that now he had died, his magic would be cancelled and the inn would turn back to normal.

He watched helplessly as the room slowly burns through the hot flames that came from nowhere. He scanned around the room to see any traces of Yagyuu's body. He didn't find him, and he guessed the Vesonians took him.

"ECHIZEN!" he heard Tezuka's voice yelled.

Tezuka's room was just across Yagyuu's room. But he did not come out when he heard noises coming from the Element User's room. Instead, he sticks into his previous plan of not coming out until he was certain that the Vesonians arrived. But then, he heard footsteps running towards Yagyuu's room. And whoever that person was stopped in front of Yagyuu's room to open the door. Tezuka immediately went out of his room to see who it was who opened Yagyuu's door, half expecting it to be a Vesonian, only to see his teammate Echizen Ryoma.

"What are you doing?" he scolded the young prince. "I specifically ordered you to—"

He stopped when he saw Yagyuu's room burning. And the flames were getting bigger. Ryoma looked at him with narrowed eyes. "That guy is dead. I can't feel his soul anymore," Ryoma said.

Tezuka tightened his fist.

"Momoshiro, Kikumaru!" the captain yelled. Momo and Eiji immediately went out of their rooms. They walked towards Tezuka and shock filled their faces once they saw the room burning.

"Momoshiro, stop the fire," Tezuka ordered, "Kikumaru, inform Inui of this, and Echizen, come with me." Momo and Eiji nodded obediently before he ran towards the exit of the inn with Ryoma behind his trails.

"Where are we going?" Ryoma asked as they were running towards the town square.

"Can your demons sense their souls?" Tezuka hurriedly asked.

"No, they can't. They can only sense souls if they saw the owner, physically, before."

"Pui already saw Yagyuu, didn't he? Summon Pui and tell him to lead us to where they've taken him," the captain yelled as they continued running.

Ryoma nodded, unaware that he was following Tezuka's orders. He immediately summoned Pui, who had been guarding the kitchen of the inn. Fortunately, Pui arrived shortly afterwards. Then, he remembered… "Wait…"

Tezuka stopped running and turned to Echizen. "What is it?"

"Yagyuu is already dead… Pui won't be able to sense his soul anymore."

"PUI!" Pui panicky yelled.

Then, Tezuka and Echizen saw two unfamiliar guys standing threateningly a few feet away from them.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Momo yelled frustratingly as he tried to stop the fire from spreading. That was when Kikumaru arrived back with Inui. Inui immediately wrote something on his notebook. "Stand back," the data man monotonously said. He tore the page on his notebook where he had just written the word 'Water' on it. He threw the paper towards the room and the paper violently released water.

The three watched as the fire slowly subsided.

Momo sat on the ground in relief. He thought he was going to burn along with that room. When the fire was finally out, they saw everything that was once wooden and neat turned into black ashes. "Why did they burn this room?" Momo asked.

"They're trying to trap us in this inn and burn us to death," Inui said.

"Nya! Then, that means!" Eiji yelled in panic, "They're still after us!"

"Man, I can't believe they killed Yagyuu-san because of this!" Momo said irritatingly. Then, he told them, "Wait! What if they continue on burning this whole building down?"

"That's not the main problem now! We better help Tezuka and O'chibi! They ran outside the inn! Maybe they're having a battle with the Vesonians right now!" Eiji yelled and began skipping two steps at a time down the stairs. "Inui, cast a spell on this inn to play it safe!" he added shortly and ran outside the inn.

"Ah… wait, Eiji-senpai!" Momo yelled and quickly stood up from his sitting position. He followed Kikumaru outside.

Inui adjusted his glasses. He tore another paper from his notebook and wrote down the words 'Indestructible materials' on it. Then, he pasted it on the wall. His glasses beamed satisfyingly. He nodded to himself for a moment before he exited the inn, following where Eiji and Momo ran to. The paper glowed after Inui left, successfully indicating that every material in that inn was now _Indestructible _under Inui's spell.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Oh damn…" the boy with red hair and purple eyes popped a green gum.

"What's the matter, Marui?" his partner, the boy with tanned skin and bald head asked.

"Seems like they successfully stopped the inn from burning down completely," Marui said, "The flame just burned two rooms, including Yagyuu's."

Tezuka and Echizen glared at them intently. The captain noticed the same Vesonian magical emblem in the letter as the one in Marui's neck. He concluded that the redhead was the one who gave Yagyuu the letter. On the other hand, the tanned bald man next to the redhead also had Vesonia's symbol tattooed on the right side of his head. Which only meant one thing; both of them are positively Vesonians.

Tezuka didn't fail to notice the pleased smirk on Echizen's face. He had obviously been waiting for years to finally see a Vesonian in person.

"We've finally meet," Echizen said with a confident smirk.

Marui smirked back. "We've heard from our leader that you've been trying to track us down for the past five years," he turned his gaze to Tezuka, "Including Eiralith."

"Yeah, I've been doing that. But unfortunately, you're always trying to run away," the young prince said with a frown.

Marui chuckled. "Oh, that is most certainly not true, naa Jackal?"

Jackal nodded his head. "In fact, we've been trying to let you get us. We've done several acts on your countries and the ally countries as well."

Marui shook his head disappointedly. "But unfortunately, none of you guys can catch us."

"So it turned out that our _acts _towards your country had only been a wake-up call. But no, that's not it," Marui added, "What we want is not your attention, but your action."

Ryoma smirked. "Well, you've got my attention now. And I'm willing to take actions too," he said and quickly teleported to Marui's side.

"You're dead," Ryoma warned. His magical emblem appeared on his left eye. He grabbed Marui's face and slammed it on the nearest post.

Tezuka was about to run towards Ryoma when Jackal appeared in front of him. "Wait a minute. You're opponent is me," he said.

Tezuka narrowed his brows. "If that is what you wish." A sword magically appeared on Tezuka's left hand and he swung it to Jackal's direction. Jackal evaded it and saw a dimensional portal opening in the exact area where Tezuka swung his sword.

"Oh, so you can open dimensions," Jackal said.

Tezuka just looked at him with serious eyes. He quickly trotted towards Jackal and expertly swung his sword. Another dimensional portal opened in the process as Jackal evaded it successfully again. "I suppose that if your sword hits me, I'd get transported to another dimension, am I right?"

Tezuka didn't answer him and was about to swing his sword sideways to hit Jackal when Jackal countered it with a steel sphere that he had been keeping behind him. From then, Tezuka's sword and Jackal's sphere created metallic noises as it hit each other.

Echizen watched as blood dripped from Marui's head to his forehead. His demon pets all arrived after Ryoma summoned them back, since Marui already declared that their plan to burn the inn down backfired. He let the other demons return to the demon world, except for one. The demon he allowed to stay with him was a fire-demon. The demon's outer appearance is made entirely of fire. He had no permanent shape but he had two blood-red eyes that glare warningly at anything he sees unappealing. And that includes his master's opponent at the moment, Marui Bunta.

"Flamewynd," Ryoma said to the fire-demon, "You know what to do."

Flamewynd roared loudly and dashed towards Marui, ready to eat his soul. But he was stopped when Marui disappeared from his previous position. Ryoma irritatingly turned his body around to see where Marui had gone to. His eyes gleamed with fury when he saw Marui smirking at him from one of the area's building's chimney.

Ryoma quickly rode on Flamewynd and flew towards where Marui was. Ryoma jumped down and landed on the roof. He stood up properly and faced Marui with a disgruntled face. He dashed towards the redhead. Just as he was just two feet away from Marui, Flamewynd changed its shape and transformed into a (literal) flame sword and positioned himself on Ryoma's hand. Ryoma swung the sword-shaped Flamewynd diagonally on Marui's direction, but Marui just side-stepped it.

Ryoma scowled and quickly swung Flamewynd horizontally. He smirked when Marui took no intentions of moving away. But his hope vanished when Marui stopped his attack with a bare hand. "What the—!"

Marui just smiled mockingly at the prince. He watched Ryoma's facial expression turned from confidence to shock. He just stopped his flame sword from slicing his body in half with just one hand. With his hand still holding Flamewynd, he performed his magic; words floated out from his hand and wrapped around Flamewynd. The words that immobilized Flamewynd tightened itself around him. This made Flamewynd changed his shape immediately out of desperation and flew out of the Marui's trap.

Ryoma watched helplessly as Flamewynd floated weakly next to him. "Oi, what did you do to him?" he asked.

Marui balled his fist and opened it again. "I just absorbed some of your pet's magical power. He seemed to have eaten many souls already." The bunch of words that looked like a long rope returned to his hand.

"Yeah, and you're the next one he'll eat," Ryoma said before Flamewynd recovered his power and began attacking Marui violently.

Words came out from Marui's hand again, but this time, instead of the words being next to each other horizontally that made it look like a whip, one word at a time floated around Marui.

When Flamewynd accidentally touched a word, it exploded. Flamewynd roared in pain but continued on attempting to attack Marui despite his injuries.

Ryoma watched Flamewynd trying his best on getting to Marui but Marui's words were a huge hindrance to his attempts. "What kind of magic is that?"

"The words are the symbol of my will. As long as my will is strong, those words would remain powerful," Marui answered as the words surrounding him kept on exploding next to Flamewynd. "Every Vesonians' powers depend on each individual's will."

"Will?" Ryoma repeated.

Marui laughed evilly. "How stupid!" he said and all of the words surrounding him flew towards Flamewynd and exploded at once.

"Flame!" Ryoma yelled concernedly. "Yarou," he cursed and charged towards Marui.

When he was about to punch Marui's face, another hand stopped him. He stared at Marui who only looked at him triumphantly. He gazed towards the hand that was stopping his fist. Then, he followed where that hand came from. His eyes widened when he saw Yagyuu.

"Y-You!"

"That's right," Yagyuu said. "I'm a Vesonian."

Ryoma felt his blood boiling. Four-eyes tricked them! "Weren't you supposed to be dead?"

"No, but my magic successfully hid my presence," he said calmly. "Remember, I was the one who changed the inn's wooden materials."

Ryoma gritted his teeth. But there was no way he's giving up! He had waited for so long to finally get to them, and he's not going to stop now. Sakuno's life was ruined because of them. It was because of them why she suffered. He was motivated into killing them no matter what.

He jumped backwards, and Yagyuu's grip on him was removed in the process.

Flamewynd recovered again and floated next to Ryoma.

Marui narrowed his brows. "That flame creature of yours could easily heal himself," he commented.

Ryoma smirked.

Marui narrowed his brows irritatingly. He used his powers again. Words came out from his hand in a fast manner and stabbed Ryoma directly on his abdomen.

Ryoma's eyes widened. Blood continuously flew out of the hole Marui created on his front. He dropped slightly and held his bleeding wound.

"Anyway, Marui," Yagyuu said, "It's time for us to go. We've already collected 10 people from the inn. I think that's enough," he said calmly.

"What?" Ryoma irritatingly yelled when he heard him. "You're not going anywhere." He winced in pain after feeling his wound again.

Marui turned around. "Yeah, I know. Oi Jackal!" he called.

Jackal and Tezuka were still fighting when the former heard his teammate. "What is it, Marui?"

"It's time for us to go!"

"I said you're not going anywhere!" Ryoma ignored his injury and he and Flamewynd skipped towards Marui and Yagyuu when Yagyuu stopped his movements by trapping him inside the water he summoned.

Flamewynd automatically returned to the demon world when Ryoma opened the door to the demon world for him. Water is Flamewynd's ultimate weakness. Once he gets splashed by water, it would be harder for him to recover.

"Please, it's time for us to go," Yagyuu said calmly. "We just wanted to formally introduce ourselves to the _Great King of Elphiore _and now that we did, it's time for us to part ways."

Ryoma couldn't talk or breathe since he was trapped inside Yagyuu's water magic. He was also feeling weak because of Marui's earlier stab. But he definitely didn't want them to go just yet.

"If you want to defeat us, then you're just going to have to wait," Marui said. "And besides, Seiichi's already looking for us."

Jackal sighed deeply. "Really… Oh well. It really did take us a while to finish our job here in Heyrth."

Marui chuckled. "Well actually, I'm more afraid of the _Emperor _than Seiichi. He might slap us to death!"

Jackal just rolled his eyes to his partner's sense of humor. He gave Tezuka one last swing before teleporting to the roof where Yagyuu and Marui are.

"Emperor? Seiichi? Are they your leader?" Tezuka asked impatiently.

Marui said, "You'll find that out in your own _once _you've find our hideout."

With that, the Vesonians disappeared.

After they were gone, Ryoma was freed from Yagyuu's magic. He coughed a few times, gasping for breath. "Kuso!" he cursed. He was soaked as water dripped from his hair. Blood continued on rushing out of his body.

Then, Momo, Eiji and Inui arrived.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Momo and Eiji stared at Tezuka and Echizen guiltily. They were too late to help them with their battle with Vesonians. They actually got lost and had no idea where Echizen and Tezuka run off to. They had run around the opposite direction for minutes before finally turning to the right way. And there, they saw Echizen soaked wet and coughing (and severely injured) on the roof and Tezuka looking at the skies with narrowed brows. And they discovered that they arrived a minute after the Vesonians left.

And so, to repay their uselessness for being unable to help the two from fighting with Vesonia, they decided to do whatever it is that they ask to do. And now, they have returned back to Echizen's house in Heyrth to rest.

"No need," Ryoma said plainly. Some of his maids already treated his wounds. And he had eaten already.

"Go to your rooms and don't let your guards down," Tezuka said stoically. He was editing Inui's written report for its submission to Atobe tomorrow.

The three only received banging of doors on their faces.

Eiji pouted ruefully. He really wanted to help. Momo, on the other hand, thought that stopping the inn for burning down was their contribution of help. Inui, the one who was least caring, just wrote down some useful data on his notebook after finding out that Yagyuu was one of their enemies.

The next morning, they went to Atobe's castle to submit their written report. Inui was the one who wrote it, of course. Tezuka just added details with his and Echizen's encounter with Marui, Jackal and Yagyuu.

Atobe stared at the paper that Tezuka submitted with disinterest. "So let ore-sama get this straight; Yagyuu Hiroshi, the one who works as an employee in Ojii's inn, was actually the one behind the kidnapped customers. And that he was a certified Vesonian?"

Tezuka nodded. "Along with that information, there are also other two Vesonians who committed the act with him. From what I remembered, they were Marui and Jackal. They never mentioned their first names, though."

Atobe scrolled down the paper and saw other interesting information. "Tezuka, explain to ore-sama who these Seiichi and Emperor are."

"Based on their conversation, it seems that Seiichi and _the Emperor _are their leaders. When I asked them who they were, they only said that I would find that out if I find out where their hideout is," Tezuka answered.

"Hmm… interesting," Atobe said and turned his head to Oshitari, who was standing behind him all this time, "Save this report in the archive," he gave Eiralith's written report to Oshitari, "Make sure you'll record everything."

"Hai, hai," Oshitari said gruffly and went out.

"Anyway, ore-sama is glad even though you didn't catch them," he said as he turned his head back to Eiralith, "At least you had an idea on their appearance and powers."

Tezuka agreed. But he was a bit curious on what Jackal's power is. He never had the chance to find out. Oh well. At least they were sure about what Marui and Yagyuu's powers are.

"Anyway, since ore-sama is so magnificently generous, I decided to _give _Ojii a new job. Ore-sama does not want to bother on building him a new inn, but ore-sama is so great that he decided to give Ojii a chance to work on one of ore-sama's fabulous hotels," he boasted, "And he said he wanted to thank you for helping him. But he was a bit disappointed when he found out that his most trusted, _and only _(he chuckled at this), employee was the one behind the disappearance of customers."

Echizen rolled his eyes and began walking away. He was still upset that the Vesonians got away. But there was no use in getting upset over something that was already done. And besides, he just thought that he'll surely catch those blasted Vesonians in his next Eiralith mission.

"Oi, O'chibi! Where are you going?" Eiji whispered when he noticed Ryoma walking away.

"Out," the young prince answered and went out.

"Oi, oi! I'm coming with you!" Momo said and hurriedly ran after Ryoma. Eiji grinned and decided to come with his two kouhais and ran off.

Atobe laughed evilly. "Looks like your teammates have short attention span, naa Tezuka?"

Tezuka couldn't agree more.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

The three were walking on Heyrth's shopping district. Boutiques after boutiques lined in one busy street of Heyrth. Momo and Eiji amusedly stared at everything they saw. Heyrth is really one rich country… compared to Elphiore.

"Elphiore's shopping district is better than this," Echizen said.

The two just laughed in half-agreement, aware that the young prince had an issue with _whose-country's-richer-than-whose _with Atobe.

Ryoma stopped when he saw an interesting thing coming from a boutique from the corner of his eyes. He stared at the musical box displayed in the shop's front glass window. He instinctually thought of Sakuno. Even though he failed to capture a Vesonian in his first mission, and that he may end up home feeling useless for not being able to avenge Sakuno's parents' deaths, he should at least try to make her happy by buying her a souvenir. Ryoma narrowed his brows irritatingly when he thought that the souvenir would come from Heyrth. He just shook his thoughts off. That's right. He'd buy her a souvenir, _even though it came from Atobe's kingdom_, he thought dejectedly.

Without further interruptions, he entered the shop and bought the musical box.

Momo and Eiji just watched their youngest teammate buying the neatly-designed (and 100% expensive) musical box. They grinned like fan-girls when they thought that he bought that for his little girlfriend. Then, when they thought of Sakuno, they instantly looked at each other guiltily.

When Ryoma came out, he saw Momo-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai looking at him with guilt. He raised a curious brow at this. But then, he decided to ignore them, thinking that they were probably just being doorknobs again.

He began walking back to his house in Heyrth. After Tezuka's talk with Atobe, they expected that they would return home in Elphiore at once. And so, Momo and Kikumaru followed behind him feeling discomfort.

When they got back home, Tezuka and Inui were already there. So, Kikumaru, Momoshiro and Echizen hurriedly went to their rooms to pack their things. After they were done, they began their journey back to Elphiore.

On the fourth day of their journey, they were already riding a boat to cross the ocean to get to Fiera, the neighboring country next to Elphiore. And from there, they would take a train ride to finally arrive in Elphiore. Fiera was also an ally country. And Momo's fiancé, Tachibana Ann, was residing there.

Kikumaru watched the splash of the ocean with the ship they were riding. He becomes ecstatic every time he would see sea creatures swimming on the pinnacle of the ocean.

That's when Ryoma decided to join him with his fish-watching.

"O'chibi!" he said delightfully. "Nice to see that you're finally opening up to us!"

Ryoma ignored his statement and said, "That Tezuka-buchou… he seemed powerful."

Eiji nodded in agreement. "He's more than just looks. He's really powerful! We could say that he's close to Rel-san's strength, nya!"

"Hmm…" Ryoma said with slight disinterest, hearing that Relphore was returned to the conversation again. Truthfully, after he saw how Tezuka fought the bald Vesonian last night and when he saw how he directed his teammates to do their jobs, he found a bit respect to the bespectacled man. He saw how he looked professionally during his fight with baldy and that made him think of the captain in a different way. Before, he just thought that Tezuka was just a bossy know-it-all. But now, he sees things differently. Same goes with Momo-senpai and Kikumaru-senpai… and _maybe _Inui-senpai. All in all, he thought he wouldn't mind hanging out with Eiralith for a couple more years until they find Vesonia's whereabouts.

"Oh, there you are, Eiji-senpai!" Momo said happily and walked towards them. "Looking for fishes?"

"Yup!" Eiji said gleefully.

"So, Echizen… How do you feel now after your first mission with us?" Momo asked eagerly.

"Boring," he lied.

"Tch, you're no fun!" Momo rested his arms on the ship's edge and stared at the blue skies.

"But I'm sure that that was your most action-filled scene in your life!" Eiji said.

"Maybe," Ryoma said monotonously.

Momo and Eiji looked at each other knowingly. Momo spoke up first. "Echizen… uhm… since you've become close with us and all… I think… we should tell you what's really going on in Elphiore…" he said with a straight face, but he was slightly nervous.

Ryoma straightened his body and stared at Momo with inquisitiveness. "… Elphiore? Why? What's happening there?"

Kikumaru and Momo gulped.

"O-O'chibi," Kikumaru said like he was about to reveal a secret that should never be revealed to anyone, "The truth is…" he bit his lip hesitantly then continued, "Saku—Ryuzaki-san…"

Ryoma's eyes widened. He glared at them. "What's with her?" he asked, feeling that something was wrong.

"Ryuzaki-san… is currently being trained by Fuji… to join Eiralith…" Eiji continued.

Nervous sweat rolled down on Momo and Kikumaru's heads when they saw the fury glint in Ryoma's eyes.

"What…?"

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Oh great. Just when they thought that they were finally getting close with their newest member.

Ever since Momoshiro and Kikumaru told Echizen the truth, he gave them the cold shoulder for the rest of the trip. He confronted Tezuka about it, but the captain merely ignored his death threats and demon pets. Tezuka said that if he wanted an explanation, he should go straight to Relphore—their leader and the one who wanted Ryuzaki Sakuno as one of their members.

Of course Echizen would go berserk once he heard that news. Being an Eiralith member and doing one of their jobs was dangerous in every angle. And since 'dangerous' was put into the sentence, Ryoma definitely wouldn't allow Sakuno to go. His mission in his life was to protect her. And in exchange, she would love him forever.

That's why when they arrived in Elphiore, the young prince demanded to see Relphore spontaneously. They directed him the way to the headquarters. They went to one of the ruins in Elphiore. There was a hidden passageway under one of those ruins' stoned grounds.

And that is why they were currently standing in their headquarters' lobby, waiting patiently for the result of Relphore and Echizen's conversation. The two were currently discussing inside Relphore's office.

"What the fucking hell do you think you're thinking?" Ryoma hissed angrily. "Why the fuck would you want Ryuzaki to join Eiralith?" He stepped closer to Relphore warningly.

Relphore simply stared at him calmly. "Please, I would appreciate it if you drop the curses."

"I DON'T _FUCKING _CARE WHAT YOU THINK!" he yelled, "ANSWER MY _FUCKING _QUESTION NOW!"

Ryoma summoned his demons without second thoughts. His eyes glaring at Relphore with complete disgust.

Rel sighed in defeat. "Why I want Ryuzaki-san to join us? Simple. You're aware of her powers, right? Well, that's my answer."

The next second, Flamewynd was staring down his eyes a few centimeters away from his face. "If you don't want him to eat your fucking soul, rethink your intentions of letting Ryuzaki join you. What this team is doing is beyond dangerous! Even if the mission had nothing to do with Vesonia, it's still FUCKING dangerous!"

Rel chuckled, ignoring Flamewynd's breathing on his face. "Oh my, how did you know about that? I actually wanted Ryuzaki-san to join missions that only had a connection with Vesonia."

With that said, Rel's face meets Ryoma's hand.

Ryoma gritted his teeth. He was past furious. How could this guy just ask _his _Ryuzaki to join Eiralith and participate in missions that _only _had something to do with Vesonia? "I'm warning you. Take her out of the group."

"No. Ryuzaki-san could be of great help with defeating Vesonians… just like you," Rel stubbornly said.

"Oh is that so," the image of Ryoma's magic symbol appeared in his left eye. He was about to hit Rel's head to the wall when the Eiralith leader stopped him when he spoke.

"And even if I ask her to leave Eiralith, it's still her decision whether she'd go or not. She's a member now and that means that only _she _had the right to decide for herself. If you want her to leave, then you must tell your opinions to her yourself," Rel said in calm tone and expression.

"Fuck you," Ryoma jeered and slammed Rel's head on the wall.

But his eyes only widened in shock after seeing that Rel disappeared from his hold.

"Looking for me?" he heard Rel's voice behind him.

And the next second, his face met the concrete wall. '_How in the world—?"_

"Oh and please… Echizen-kun, I'm your highest superior now, since you're a member of _my _team. Please refrain from disobeying my orders. And most especially, please keep your curses to yourself. I really hate those," Rel said in a tone like he was just buying bread from the bakery. This gave a threatened feeling to Ryoma.

Rel let Ryoma's head go and turned around. "Besides, I'm only a projection. My real body needed to be hidden so that I won't harm anyone unintentionally. Even if your demon," he looked at Flamewynd who was floating in midair helplessly, "eats my soul, he won't get anything."

Blood dripped down from Ryoma's forehead to his cheek. He stood up properly and faced Rel with an angered face. "Where are you going? I'm still not finished with you."

Rel turned back around to meet Ryoma face-to-face. "Well, _I'm_ done with _you. _And if you want Ryuzaki-san to leave Eiralith, then you're just going to have to talk to her yourself."

Ryoma charged towards him and punched Rel in the face. But unfortunately, before he could reach Rel's face, an invisible force field stopped him. A sakura petal randomly dropped on Ryoma's fist.

"I'll forgive you this time since you were severely injured with your first mission. But disrespect me again and you may end up feeling regret that you've met me." And then, Rel mysteriously disappeared.

Ryoma angrily punched the table next to him after he helplessly watched Rel disappear.

He quickly stomped away from the room and left the headquarters, ignoring the curious looks given to him by Eiralith members scattered around. Momoshiro tried to stop him but he just continued on walking, as if Momo was invincible.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

When Ryoma returned to his castle, he plainly ignored the greetings of the castle's butlers, maids, cooks and other servants. He marched directly to his room. But on his way there, he saw Hedrick standing in front of another room, looking as if he was waiting for someone. The bespectacled butler detected his master's presence and he turned around immediately. Hedrick's usual sharp and emotionless eyes were replaced with slight fear and concern.

Ryoma took his personal butler's expression as bad news. He glared at Hedrick and walked towards him. "What are you doing there?" he asked as he remembered that the room Hedrick was across from is one of the unused rooms of the castle; intended for guests.

Hedrick gulped nervously before he adjusted his glasses and bowed in front of Ryoma politely. "Welcome home from your mission, Echizen-sama."

Hedrick felt Ryoma's hand on his shoulder. His master tightened his grip on his shoulder and he could literally feel a vein twitching from his master's hand. "Hedrick, don't make me repeat my question," Ryoma said in a low and dangerous tone.

Usually, Hedrick would ignore Ryoma's dangerous voice—he was used to it—but he couldn't help but feel nervous with Ryoma. He cleared his throat before answering, "Ryuzaki-sama is currently inside this room with Fuji Syuusuke-sama."

Ryoma's eyes widened for a fraction before it returned to normal. "Fuji Syuusuke…" he said then remembered Fuji as the smiling brunette of Eiralith.

He quickly held the doorknob and turned it. Hedrick tried to stop him at first but Ryoma just overlooked him. And with that done, Ryoma entered the room.

Ryoma narrowed his brows confusedly when he finally got inside the room. What he was seeing right now was utterly different from what the room looked like before—based on his memory. The room used to have a simple bed, study table, book shelf and bedside table before. But now, the room looked different. It doesn't even look like a room anymore.

His eyes scanned the place—that was once a guest room—and just stared at the wide range of lawn leading to god-knows-where. A strong wind blew past him and that was enough to break himself from his surprise.

He was standing on a grassy field.

"Where… the heck… am I…?"

Green grass, green grass, one tree, blue sky, white clouds, yellow sun, green grass, green grass. The whole place looked like another world. He didn't think that it was his garden, since the castle's garden is withered because of the curse. This place being his garden was impossible. And besides, the sky was blue in that place.

"What happened… to the guest room…?"

Then, he remembered why he was there in the first place; to see Sakuno… and Fuji probably.

He walked unsurely over the grass. The sun shone on his hair, emphasizing his green locks. He stared at his shadow on the lawn. It was leading north. He thought that maybe if he followed his shadow, he would see where the two is.

He walked for what seemed like eternity. But there were no trails of the auburn-head and the smiling tensai. And then, when he took another three steps, he noticed sakura petals began to float around. He raised his head. And he surprisingly saw himself—an exact copy of himself. And not only that. He saw the place he passed by, the shining sun, the drifting clouds. He saw everything. It took him another moment to figure out that there was a huge mirror in front of him. The mirror probably reached to the endless sky.

He walked closer to the mirror, his reflection imitating him.

He placed his palm on the mirror. He stared at his reflection again. Then, he noticed that his reflection's left eye was changing. His magical symbol appeared on his reflection's left eye. But he was sure he was not using his magic. He wondered what was happening. Only his reflection's eye changed.

Then, he was not sure of it himself, but he began seeing what was beyond that mirror through the reflection's left eye.

He saw Sakuno doing the same thing on the other side, with Fuji watching her on her side. Sakuno's hand was exactly at the same place as where Ryoma's hand was.

His hand that was holding the mirror involuntarily shook. Then, the mirror broke into pieces.

Ryoma watched in confusion as scattered pieces of glass slowly fell down on the ground. One or two shards injured him in the process.

Then, he finally got to see Sakuno and Fuji. The two were looking at him with bewilderment. His hand was placed in parallel with Sakuno's.

Sakuno smiled happily when she finally registered who was in front of her. She wrapped her hand around Ryoma's and cheerfully leaned closer to him to hug him. "Ryoma-kun, you're back!"

Ryoma still couldn't figure out what the mirror's purpose is and why it suddenly shattered into pieces. It was only then when he realized that Sakuno was embracing him. Their hands intertwined.

"Saa, welcome back, Echizen," Fuji greeted.

And because of that, Ryoma remembered his previous conversation with Relphore. He gritted his teeth and glared at Fuji harshly. "What are you doing with her?"

Fuji only chuckled. "I was enhancing her power."

"Where the hell are we? What happened to the guest room?" he persistently asked.

"I'm an illusionist, Echizen," Fuji explained. "Everything you see here now is only an illusion." He snapped his finger and the once grassy field turned back to what the guest room looked like.

Ryoma watched in slight amusement as Fuji returned the room back to normal.

Then, he remembered Eiralith and Relphore again. "You," he muttered accusingly, "get out of here before I feed your soul to the devils," he threatened.

Fuji raised a puzzled eyebrow at this. "What are you talking about?"

Ryoma grabbed Sakuno's wrist and dragged her away. He quickly ordered Hedrick to get Fuji away.

He ignored Hedrick and Fuji's curious looks and continued on stomping back to his room. He needed to talk to Sakuno about Eiralith.

When they reached his room, he immediately locked it. He let go of her hand and watched her looking at him with bewilderment.

"Why did you join Eiralith?" he hissed.

Sakuno finally understood what was going on and her facial expression turned serious. "I wanted to help you, Ryoma-kun."

Ryoma narrowed his brows threateningly. "Help?" he leaned closer and grabbed her wrist harshly. Ignoring her yelps of pain, he added, "I don't _need _your help. I can handle Vesonia on my own! Do you know how dangerous the missions are? You would get killed once you step foot in this group."

Sakuno tried to get Ryoma's hand off her wrist but to no avail, he just tightened it harder. She replied, "I don't care how dangerous it is! I just don't want to sit here and wait for what's going to happen like always! I want to be of some use to you from now on!"

"Leave Eiralith, now," he said in a warning whisper, hoping that she would get scared and leave the underground organization at once.

"No, I won't," she stubbornly said. "I'm tired of just sitting here, doing nothing! I want to do something!"

"Have you forgotten that _I _was the one who saved your life? I was the one who gave you meaning. And now, the least you could do is to do what I order you to. I'm your King; obey my orders," Ryoma said. He really didn't like the way she was disobeying him. And he didn't want to make her feel like she owed him her life, but he really didn't want her to join such a dangerous group, either.

Sakuno seemed to look guilty when he said that. But she stubbornly narrowed her brows again. "You're right, Ryoma-kun. You were the one who showed me the light. You were the one who gave me hope. You were the reason why I'm living like I do now! You're my life, my everything! You're the one who told me to live!" she was almost at tears, "That is why… I want to live my life protecting you and helping you in any way I can! Because if you won't let me do what I want with my life, then I'd rather you not have saved me at all!"

Ryoma's eyes gleamed with furiousness. And before he knew it, he slapped Sakuno. Ruthlessly.

Sakuno dropped to the ground, holding her reddened cheek. Her eyes showed shock and betrayal at the same time. Her tears finally dropped.

Ryoma watched her tears fall on the ground without any emotions. He narrowed his brows even more. "I _command _you to leave Eiralith."

He left and shut the door with a loud bang.

Her hand that was holding her cheek shook violently because of fear. Never before did the prince physically harm her. He promised her before that he would do anything to protect her and that he won't hurt her no matter what. He promised that he will always be there for her, comforting her every time she was sad and whenever it rains—her phobia.

He stuck to that promise until that painful slap. He would skip every important meeting he has whenever he hears rain and would quickly look for her to stay by her side. He protected her from anyone who tries to harm her or even bad-mouth her. He was the reason why she was happy.

But then, all beliefs she had shattered into pieces the moment his hand met her cheek and his eyes looked at her with furiousness.

"You… broke your promise…" she whispered to herself.

_He _broke his promise…

To be continued.

* * *

><p>AN: Guess where I based Marui's power? 07-Ghost's Teito Klein \(^_^)/ And guess where I based Flamewynd? Katekyo Hitman Reborn's Tsunayoshi Sawada's box weapon \(^v^)/ Anyway, I hope you liked my pathetic attempt of a drama-chapter. And forgive my grammatical errors, haha XD

Oh, and thank you for your support! Because of you guys, I was feeling inspired into continuing this :D Dakara, review please! If you won't review, your computer will explode in 3… 2… 1… JK XP Lol.

By the way, the italics in the first part (since the first chapter) is the scenes from Ryoma and Sakuno's past. But the scenes are not arranged accordingly (for suspense and excitement ^^) like how The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was first aired before :D

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi


	5. Chapter 5

_He didn't know when, but he started to love her. The young boy silently watched her as she still adjusts herself as a noble inside the castle. Over the days, he got to meet her and know what she likes and not. And recently, he discovered that she was fearful of rain. She said it was because it was raining when her parents died. He had no idea who killed her parents, but he was determined in knowing who it was who killed them. He wanted to help her. _

_And so, he promised her that he would protect her and stay by her side forever. He wouldn't let anything harm her. He took her hand and made a pinky promise. _

_From then on, he sits by her side whenever it rains and intertwined their hands._

_She, on the other hand, appreciates his gestures. She fell in love with him the moment her eyes laid on his'. She didn't know why, since she doesn't believe in love at first sight. In fact, she felt like she had seen that boy with amber eyes several times before. She even felt that it was destiny that let them meet…_

_But neither of them knew that it was not destiny…_

_Because…_

**Chapter 5**

He swore. He didn't really mean it. It just happened before he knew what was going on.

He stopped walking and balled his fists tighter.

"I had… hurt her…" he muttered regretfully. His eyes were showing complete guilt.

He wished that there was another way to convince her to leave Eiralith. But his furiousness got the better of him.

"I… broke my… promise…" he said as he realized how she may be feeling right now.

He promised her before that he would never hurt her. He promised he would protect her no matter what happens. He promised he would never leave her side. And he believed that he would not break those promises. Because he knew that he wouldn't be able to do any of those otherwise. He knew he loved her too much.

But…

She was being too stubborn.

As much as he hated doing that, it was partly her fault. The reason why he joined an unauthorized group of eliminators was because he was highly determined in catching Vesonians and defeating them for good. He hated them because they killed her parents. He did that for her. And so, there was no reason for her to put herself into danger just because of her own stubbornness. He didn't need her help. _She _needs _his _help. He just wished that she would understand that.

But the problem was; he was never verbally open to her. He couldn't bear to tell her the truth—that the Vesonians killed her parents. He didn't want her to get hurt anymore than she does. And that is why—he knew it from the start—she wanted to help him.

And besides, she had no idea how dangerous those Vesonians are. Even he and the great captain of Eiralith, Tezuka, had a hard time in fighting some Vesonians. What more if they get to encounter their leader? Or what if they encounter other stronger Vesonian? She would really get hurt, and maybe even killed. And Relphore telling him that they were helping Sakuno improve her power is bullshit. Yes, her magic is powerful, but even if her power increases its level, he still wouldn't risk her life to something so dangerous.

Ryoma stopped walking down the hall when he saw Fuji Syuusuke leaning casually on a wall, his arms crossed. The usually smiling tensai had his eyes opened, making Ryoma see his cerulean orbs. Fuji stood up straight when he saw Ryoma.

"I thought I told you to leave," Ryoma said harshly.

The tensai sighed before he walked closer to Ryoma. "Listen Echizen, Sakuno-san just wanted to help you. You don't need to get mad at her."

"I know what's happening. I don't need you to tell me," Ryoma glared at him, "And why were you listening to our conversation? It's none of your business, so scram."

The young prince was about to walk away when Fuji stopped him.

"By the way you're acting right now, you're making me think that you don't really see her as a lover," Fuji said calmly.

This irritated Ryoma more. He glared even harder at the tensai. "What do you mean?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"If you really love her, then you'll let her do what makes her happy."

"She's perfectly happy just sitting here where she is safe," Ryoma said.

Fuji chuckled which made Ryoma turned slightly confused. "What are you laughing about now?" the young prince almost yelled.

"It's just, you weren't listening to what she said before, were you?" Fuji said and elaborated, "Sakuno-san said that she wants to help you and protect you in any way she can. She also mentioned that she doesn't want to just sit here and do nothing, like always. She wanted to repay you for your kindness for letting her live here by doing her best in being useful to you."

"I know she said that. I know what she wants," Ryoma said, "But she has no idea that it's not really what she wants."

Fuji looked at him seriously. "Then, Echizen, tell me… What do you think she really wants?"

Ryoma gritted his teeth. "Don't just tell me things that you think you really know. You just met her, and don't act like you know her for years! You're just being a busybody."

"Please, answer the question, Echizen."

Ryoma grunted. He really had no idea what she really wants. He thought that she wants to live in wealth. He thought that all of those things he gave her, material things or not, are what make her happy.

He remained silent.

"What you're doing here is that you're keeping her locked up inside this castle, because you wanted her to be always safe," Fuji said, which Ryoma thought was true. And the tensai added, "But by doing that, you're just making her feel like a slave, or worse; a prisoner."

Ryoma's eyes widened.

The last thing he wanted her to feel was being his slave. She was higher than that. He even treats her like his wife already.

"You never tell her things like your brother or even the fact that Vesonians killed her parents. You said that it was because you don't want her to suffer any more than she already does, but Echizen… right now… _you _are the one making her suffer than that day her parents were killed before her eyes."

"Shut up," Ryoma hissed. "Everything I do is done to protect her. Don't pretend that you understand us."

Fuji's eyes were suddenly filled with bitter longing when he felt nostalgia. He already experienced what Ryoma was feeling right now and the last thing the tensai would want is for history to repeat itself in the form of Ryoma and Sakuno. "I understand you. I understand your situation better than anyone, I believe. That's why I don't want things that happened to me before happens to you and Sakuno-san."

Ryoma let out a mocking snort. "You? Understanding me? I beg to differ."

"Yes, I understand," Fuji said confidently. "I understand completely; the feeling of fear of losing someone important… and trying your best to protect her no matter what happens… but failing because of your weakness…"

"And then having that weakness mocks you for life…" Fuji added in a soft whisper.

A flash of a pool of blood vividly entered Fuji's mind as he recalled his past. His brother's crying was echoed throughout the small vicinity of a room. The fear in his eyes when he saw a lifeless body sprawled out in the pool of blood.

"Weakness? What are you talking about now?" Ryoma asked, which made Fuji return to his senses.

"Just… Believe me…" Fuji said weakly. "And believe in Sakuno-san. She's more than just a damsel in distress."

Ryoma believed that Eiralith and Relphore just wanted to use Sakuno's powers to defeat Vesonia. But no. He will never let anyone use her again for their own selfish reasons. He had his own way of dealing with the villains. And she was not a part of it.

And why was Fuji acting as if he knew Sakuno better than him? They may have spent two weeks together but Ryoma had already been with her for five years. Fuji had no right proclaiming that he understands Sakuno.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the both of them, a man with black hair and green eyes watched them from the corner of the hallway. He smirked evilly.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

A few days later, Tezuka appeared in the castle along with the other members again. They were given another mission by Relphore and said that Vesonians are involved.

Well, it was good news for Ryoma's part. At least he knew that he would be able to face another Vesonian.

But what he didn't like was the fact that Sakuno was going with them. For the past few days, he had been giving Sakuno the cold shoulder. The stubborn girl still wouldn't want to leave Eiralith. And now, here they were, traveling towards the land of Skytheria, another ally country far, far away from Elphiore, assigned with another mission against Vesonia.

But this time, their travel wouldn't need to take train rides or to travel in water. Skytheria is a land floating in the midair, behind white clouds, under the blue sky, and higher than snowy mountains. Skytheria was a warm place since its land was closer in the sun. It hardly rains in that place, and once it does, it would be a storm. The thunder and lightning are more dangerous in that land, too.

That explains why they were riding a huge dragon-like creature flying towards Skytheria. The dragon was Kawamura-senpai's 'pet' and it keenly reminded Ryoma of Flamewynd. And this time, unlike his first mission, everyone from the first squad of Eiralith joined the mission. And Sakuno, too. Which he still didn't like.

"So, this is Ryuzaki-san's first mission as a member, right?" Oishi said, trying to start a conversation.

"No," Fuji answered, "Three weeks ago, Rel-san assigned L-Class to B-Class missions for us so that she would be experienced for an S-Class mission like this."

"Oh, I see!" Momo said cheerfully.

"That happened during the time we were traveling towards Heyrth," Ryoma said irritatingly.

"Nya!" Eiji suddenly jumped on Ryoma and hugged him, "Are you still mad at us for not telling you about it?"

"Doorknobs," Ryoma said, trying to get Eiji off of him.

Momo suddenly entered the picture and jumped on Eiji, making Ryoma feel both of their weights. "Get over it, brat. What's done is done! Just forgive Ryuzaki-chan already!"

"Yeah!" Eiji said and pouted. "I miss your public displays of affection. You two are just so cute together!"

Sakuno avoided eye contact with him. She knew he was still mad. Everyone does. She just stared at the blue skies and the clouds they were passing through. She suddenly remembered the day when he slapped her. She felt really betrayed when he did that, but she also understood why he acted that way. But this was the first time she felt really determined in joining Eiralith and helping catch some Vesonians. She doesn't know why Ryoma hated them so much, but there must be a good reason. And whatever that reason was, he was hiding it from her.

"Everyone, we're almost there," Taka said happily.

They tilted their heads upward and they began to see the floating land of Skytheria gradually getting bigger.

"It's the first time I'm ever going to this land," Sakuno said.

After a few more minutes, the dragon landed on the grounds of Skytheria and the Eiralith members began to get off. Taka said a few words to the dragon before the creature disappeared.

"Nee, Echizen," Momo nudged Ryoma's arm, "Do you also have a house here?"

Ryoma smirked at him arrogantly. "Of course. Being the King of Elphiore, I have houses on every country, in case I have to do some business with every country in the world."

"But the houses aren't Ryoma-kun's," Sakuno said innocently, "The houses are for the Echizens."

Ryoma looked at her and he almost smiled at her, if not for his pride. He, instead, turned his head away.

He really missed talking to her like before. They haven't even slept together for days. But he was a prideful man, and he still wanted her to leave Eiralith. He'll act like he hates her if it means that she'll finally leave the group.

"Let's proceed to your house then," Tezuka said.

"Hn." Ryoma began leading the way towards his house.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Like before, Momo and Eiji both knew that they shouldn't be surprised if Echizen owned a really, really, really, really huge mansion in Skytheria. But then again, the 'house', which he kept mentioning before, turned out to be a really, really, really, really HUGE mansion. They arrived in the mansion from the edge of Skytheria by a few walks past a thick forest and a short carriage ride.

"Just how rich are you?" Momo asked in awe.

"Richer than the Monkey King, that's for sure," Ryoma said, remembering Atobe.

"I think Ryoma-kun's houses are really better than Atobe-san's," Sakuno said, interrupting their conversation. She wanted to pretend like she and Ryoma were not ignoring each other for now.

Ryoma simply ignored her and let the other guys in.

Sakuno sighed sadly.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Right now, the King of Skytheria is busy. He'll meet us tomorrow morning, but I was told by his messenger that we should go and investigate the northern, eastern and southern parts of Skytheria while waiting for tomorrow so that we wouldn't waste any time. The messenger told me that they suspected the Vesonians are behind the disappearances of many female occupants of this country," Tezuka said as he were holding a piece of paper and standing in the middle of the other Eiraliths. They were currently in the living room of Echizen's mansion.

"Disappearances again?" Momo said.

"The Vesonians are gathering humans from many countries for some reason," Inui said, "It's a 50% possibility that they are recruiting new members. The other 50% prediction is that they use those humans as sacrifices for an unknown reason."

Sakuno looked at them with serious eyes as she listened.

Ryoma glanced at her general direction. They were really facing dangerous people in that mission. He didn't want her to get involved.

"Momoshiro, Kaidoh and Kikumaru, go patrol the northern part of Skytheria," Tezuka authoritatively ordered, "Inui and Fuji will join me in investigating the eastern part. Echizen and Ryuzaki will go to the southern part. And Oishi and Kawamura will stay here."

They all nodded, except for Echizen and Ryuzaki, who both didn't like the idea of being together alone.

"Buchou," Ryoma said, "I want to change my partner."

Sakuno frowned.

"Give me a good reason," Tezuka sternly said, not liking how Ryoma opposed to his decisions.

"She'll drag me down," Ryoma said. "Let her stay here and let Kawamura-senpai go with me instead."

"I think O'chibi just wants Sakuno-chan to stay here so that she'll be safe," Eiji whispered to Momo, who nodded in agreement.

"Both you and Kawamura's powers are of the aggressive-type. Ryuzaki's powers could back you up in case you encounter a Vesonian," Tezuka said. "It's one of the reasons why Relphore asked her to join Eiralith."

Ryoma groaned. "She wouldn't be useful to me during battles."

"I don't see Momoshiro or Kaidoh complaining to me about the arrangements even though I put them in the same group," Tezuka said, "Separate personal matters with the mission."

"What does that have to do with this?" Ryoma questioned.

"Momo and Kaidoh are rivals," Oishi answered for Tezuka because he felt that the captain was close to getting his patience snap.

Momo and Kaidoh glared at each other but remained quiet.

The young prince kept quiet.

Tezuka sensed that Ryoma wouldn't complain any further. And so, he turned to the other members and said, "Return here before dark. Don't let your guard down."

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Ryoma and Sakuno walked awkwardly with each other. The girl was several steps behind the prince, who just kept on walking like he was alone.

"A-Anou… Ryoma-kun… S-Skytheria is a really nice place, huh?" she began awkwardly and looked at the busy people, "B-But… the few p-population of f-females is quite n-noticeable… don't you agree?"

He ignored her.

Sakuno narrowed her brows and walked quicker so that she would be able to walk side-by-side with him. "Ryoma-kun… when will you stop being mad?"

"You don't have to be mad at me… I'm a person, I make decisions for myself…"

"Ryoma-kun…"

"Anou… R-Ryoma… kun…"

He just kept ignoring her until they reached another thick forest. When they first landed in Skytheria, they arrived in the eastern forests. So now, Ryoma concluded that they were in the southern forests of the land. And he also concluded that beyond that forest is the edge of Skytheria. The floating land was surrounded by thick forests, after all.

The Vesonians could hide in the forests while they wait for a right time to attack those females, Ryoma thought.

Then, they both heard the sound of thunder. Sakuno froze on the spot.

She began trembling. And Ryoma knew the reason why.

Gray clouds began to float over the land of Skytheria, covering the once blue skies. It barely rains in the country but once in a while, it does. And it never rained lightly there. Once it rains, it would automatically be storm.

And then, the gray skies began showering the land with huge drops of rain.

Sakuno's eyes changed. Her eyes widened in fear. She weakly sat on the ground, just next to a forest tree. She covered her ears with her hands and curled into a miserable position.

Ryoma just watched her with no emotions. "Vesonians are scarier than rain," he said in a low, mocking voice.

Sakuno continued on trembling out of fear. She felt the rain hit her body. Drops of rain felt like slap in her body. Every drop makes her clothes wetter. And after a few more seconds, she and Ryoma were soaked wet.

"If you can't stand the rain, what more if you face a Vesonian?" Ryoma asked mockingly.

A strong wind blew past them, sending chills down their body.

Ryoma turned around and began walking back to his mansion.

And Sakuno remained curled in her spot as the rain continued on dropping.

Just then, another thunder roared.

He needed her to leave Eiralith badly. If he was going to break his promise to make her leave, then so be it.

"_You… broke your promise… again…" _she thought fearfully.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Ryoma arrived back in his mansion shortly afterwards. As expected, everyone else was already there, too. They didn't like the idea of investigating the whereabouts of Vesonians during the rain, too, he presumed.

Momo threw him a towel.

Ryoma muttered a brief thanks before he dried his hair with the said towel.

"Hey, where's Ryuzaki-san?" Oishi asked. He had a towel already prepared for her, but he can't see her.

Ryoma turned away.

Oishi narrowed his brows. Then he accusingly said, "You left her in the rain?"

"She needs to learn her lesson," Ryoma answered cruelly.

Then, he felt like someone punched his face.

He dropped on the floor and glared at the person who punched him.

It was the captain standing in front of him. "I told you to separate personal matters with the mission!" Tezuka yelled.

"Oh my god! Sakuno-chan!" Eiji yelled in panic and ran out of the house.

"We'll look for her," Taka-san said and left the house, too.

"I'll come with you!" Momo said and dragged Kaidoh with him.

"Yarou! Where do you think you're taking me?" the Viper yelled at him.

"I-I'll bring the first aid kit…!" Oishi said and ran out to look for her.

Ryoma stood up and dusted off his pants.

He met Tezuka's furious eyes with his emotionless eyes.

"I am disappointed with what you did, Echizen," Tezuka said.

"You didn't have to punch me," Ryoma said.

"Echizen," Inui interrupted, "The reason why Tezuka sent everyone with a partner was because fighting a Vesonian alone is risky."

"So?"

Inui adjusted his glasses. "You left Ryuzaki alone in the southern parts of Skytheria. Which means, there is a 56% probability that she might encounter a Vesonian there."

Ryoma's eyes widened when he realized everything.

He stood still in his spot, not knowing what to do. He wanted to move, but something was stopping him.

"Echizen, you've gone too far," Fuji said.

"There is a 43% probability that she stayed where you left her. 57% that she left. For now, it would be harder for us to locate her," Inui said, "Echizen, right now, you have the highest percentage among us in knowing where she could have gone."

"She wouldn't leave where I left her," Ryoma said.

"Oh," Inui's glasses glint, "Elaborate the statistics you have to defend your statement. I have confidence in the accuracy of my data."

Ryoma ignored Inui and finally had the strength to run out of the house.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

She's gone.

He stared blankly at the same space where he remembered he left Ryuzaki before. She was just curled up near that tree an hour ago. She wouldn't just leave…

Is he really beginning to misunderstand her?

Where could she have gone to?

Knowing her, she wouldn't have the strength or courage to stand up there and run around the rain. She wouldn't be able to find a shelter to dry herself up. She was too traumatized by the rain to even stand up. She would more probably just sit there and wait for the rain to stop. And right now, the rain continued on hitting the grounds.

But, now, everything he believed he knew she would do turned around.

He had no idea where she went.

Then, he heard some shuffling near him. He also saw a figure moving behind one of the trees.

"Ryuzaki…?"

The figure went near him and it was revealed that he was Eiji. "O'chibi!" the redhead said surprisingly. Then, he worriedly turned his head around. "I can't find Sakuno-chan anywhere! Momo and Kaidoh are already searching for her near here… and Taka's looking for her in the central part of the town."

Ryoma gritted his teeth.

The rain continued on pouring as he turned his heels around and left immediately.

He had no idea where she was, and he could only rely on luck for now.

He ran to where his feet lead him to. He ignored the splash of puddles on his feet. He was soaked wet and he didn't care.

Then, he suddenly felt like blood drained out of his body when he thought the Vesonians got to her.

No.

He needed to think positively.

After a few more hours of running through the storm, his feet stopped as he was across a huge Cathedral.

He was now in the northern part of Skytheria.

He walked towards the Cathedral and stepped inside.

The inside looked more spacious than the outside. As expected of a normal Church, it had a really high ceiling supported by stoned pillars. In fact, everything seemed to be made out of stone. And every walls and pillars were carved in a detailed design suitable for the House of God. The ceilings were painted with Saints and Angels. There are glasses mosaics on the higher parts of the wall, serving as the Church's windows.

He walked deeper inside the huge vicinity.

There was a long carpet leading to the altar. And in the middle of the altar was a really huge crucifix.

The only light inside that Cathedral was coming from the mosaic glassed windows around and the huge glassed window with black railings behind the crucifix. He could see from there the still-dark skies of Skytheria. And the loud sound of rain hitting the ground outside and the roof of the Cathedral echoed throughout the ear-deafening silence of the House of God.

Then, he saw a person curled up in the corner near the altar. She was bathed with the fainted light coming from the window behind the crucifix. He squinted to see who that person was.

His eyes burned with relief when he saw her.

"Ryuzaki…"

She raised her head up in a fast manner. She saw Ryoma walking towards her. "R-Ryoma… kun…"

"How'd you get here? This place is pretty far from the southern forests."

"D-Did you… look for me?"

Ryoma nodded.

Tears began flowing out of her eyes. "I-I knew it… I always believed in you…"

Ryoma looked at her confusedly.

"I knew you wouldn't just break your promise like that," she said between sobs. "In the end… you came back… to look for me…"

Ryoma walked closer to her and sat in front of her. "Not only me. The doorknobs were looking for you, too."

"Ryoma-kun," her tears flowed out continuously, "I-I… really, really love you…"

He did not expect her to say that now out of all things. He relaxingly leaned back and deeply exhaled, letting out all of his worry over her when he was looking for her. "I know."

She cried louder and hugged Ryoma.

"Mou! Don't ignore me like that again!" she yelled.

"I did it so that you'll leave Eiralith," Ryoma said.

"I won't!" she stubbornly said as she pressed her head deeper into his chest.

Ryoma sighed again.

"I… was… a jerk," he admitted.

"Yeah, you were," Sakuno said, still burying her head in his chest.

"Gomen," he said.

"I've already forgave you days ago!"

"Nee, Ryuzaki… is this what you really want?" he asked gently.

Sakuno nodded.

"The missions are dangerous…" he tried to reason.

"I've already experienced working in different classed-missions. I don't care how dangerous it is as long as I can be helpful to you."

"Fine," he sighed in defeat, "But I'm still against your decision."

Sakuno smiled and hugged him closer. "Thank you…"

The rain continued on pouring, which made Sakuno flinch. He just caressed her hair. Oh, how he missed doing that.

Ryoma was still truly against her decision of joining Eiralith. But what can he do? She was really persistent in joining, it had to mean something. But still, he would do anything to protect her. He would stay close to her every mission and makes sure that she is within his sight.

True, her powers are rather outstanding and unique, but she has to meet a big condition to fulfill that power. That is why he doesn't like it when she uses it. And he didn't like the idea of Relphore and Eiralith using her, and her powers, for defeating Vesonia. He believed that they have enough members.

"Oh… and sorry… for breaking my promise," he added.

"Just… don't do it again…" she said weakly.

Eventually, they heard the rain stopping.

And then, the gray clouds finally dispersed and it revealed the moon shining brightly under the night skies.

The moonlight was visible inside that Cathedral.

And it was also larger, considering that Skytheria was floating in the heavens. And after a few more hours, the two just stayed in there.

Their skin bathed in the calming moonlight. The two of them were still sitting on the corner near the altar. Both of them had their back rested on the wall. Sakuno's head was leaning relaxingly on his shoulder, while Ryoma had his eyes looking somewhere far ahead.

"Ryuzaki… say _it _again," he muttered.

"Hmm?" Sakuno looked at him curiously then she smiled. She rested her head on his shoulder again. "I love Ryoma-kun very, very much," she said softly.

"And this means that you'll stay by my side forever, right?" Ryoma asked with a straight face, still looking ahead.

"Hai," she smiled calmly, "Even if the whole world turns its back on you, I won't. I'll forever stay by your side."

The young prince's amber eyes softened. "It's a promise."

"Yes," she chuckled, "A promise."

Their hands intertwined.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

A figure loomed over Ryoma and Sakuno as the two slept peacefully while sitting next to each other. The figure had silver hair and silver emotionless eyes. He seemed glowing under the moonlight hitting his pale skin. His right arm had an unidentified tattooed symbol reaching from his upper arm down to the back of his hand. Another complicated swirls and curves of a symbol were tattooed on the left side of his eye, forming the shape of the letter 'C' around his eye. He had watched how the girl entered the Cathedral a few hours ago followed by the young man almost an hour later.

The girl was weeping and positioned herself on the corner near the altar.

He felt her heart howling with sadness. And the young man who just entered approached her and sat in front of her. They began talking, and with their conversation, it seemed that they just had a fight but now made up.

And so, there they were, sleeping next to each other peacefully.

They didn't even seem aware of his presence.

"A promise made under God's roof," he said.

"A promise made under the moonlight…"

"A promise witnessed by me…"

He smirked.

"A promise made to be broken…"

And then, the silver-haired man disappeared, leaving a white feather dropping slowly on the carpeted floor of the Cathedral.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

The sun was once again rising from the east. The Eiralith members smiled tiredly at each other when they finally found their newest member and the young prince of Elphiore. At least, they knew by the way they were positioned, that the two had finally stopped fighting. And it didn't seem like they encountered or fought a Vesonian.

"We've been looking all night for them…" Taka said tiredly.

"Who would've thought that they just went here…" Momo said and dropped tiredly on the ground.

Tezuka adjusted his glasses. "Let's go now. We're meeting the King."

"What about Ryuzaki-san and Echizen?" Oishi asked.

"Kawamura," Tezuka called. Taka looked at him questioningly. Fuji chuckled and pointed towards Taka's pocket. Taka confusedly inserted his hand inside his pocket and when he felt his hand brushing over something, he took it and removed it from his pocket.

He saw a small wooden hammer and it magically turned larger when he gazed at it.

"BURNING!" he yelled. The once soft-spoken Taka-san would turn into a ravaging lunatic once he holds that weapon of his. A magical hammer that releases fire once he hits it on anything. Right now, the hammer was as big as his whole body.

Taka-san is a Fire Magician.

"I'll carry those two until we reach the castle, baby!" he yelled. He grabbed Sakuno and Ryoma by their collars and lifted them up. He threw the two of them over his shoulders.

"Are you alright, Taka-san? Aren't they heavy?" Oishi worriedly asked.

"NO, NO, NO!" Taka yelled lively. "They're so light I feel like I'm only carrying a feather, BABY!"

"Like that?" Ryoma asked, pointing towards a feather on the floor near them.

The Eiralith members looked at Ryoma, who was being carried by Taka over his shoulders.

"E-Echizen... you're awake…" Oishi said.

"Who wouldn't when Kawamura-senpai began yelling?" Ryoma said bluntly.

"Sakuno-chan's still sleeping!" Eiji said cheerfully and gestured towards the snoozing Sakuno.

Ryoma ignored him and turned to Taka. "Let me go, senpai."

"No, ECHIZEN! I won't let you down! LITERALLY! Let US run towards the FUTURE! COME ON, LET'S FIGHT!"

And Taka began running in a fast pace towards the castle of Skytheria.

"He's too energetic when he's in the Burning-mode," Fuji said with a smile and walked after the sprinting Taka.

"What if he accidentally drops Ryuzaki-san and Echizen? And they were drained from the rain last night, weren't they? What if they get sick? Oh no, I better catch Taka-san soon or else our two newest members would seriously get hurt! I mean, what if they scratch their knee or something!" Oishi muttered in panic as he tried to run after Taka.

"Well, we'll go to the castle one way or another," Momo said tiredly and dragged his feet outside the Cathedral.

"Nya! I wonder, when will we meet a real princess during our missions?" Eiji said randomly as he walked towards Momo.

"Fshuu…" Kaidoh glared at no one and began following the others.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

They arrived in Skytheria's castle shortly afterwards. Of course, Taka-san was the first one who arrived, followed by the others. Fuji took Taka's hammer off his hand and the soft-spoken Taka returned once more. He gently dropped a dizzy Ryoma (because of Taka's speedy run) on the ground and shifted Sakuno from his shoulder to his back. Ryoma wanted to carry her instead but everyone opposed to it, afraid that he would run away with her. Which Ryoma thought was insulting for his part, of course.

They were later guided towards the throne, where they finally get to see the King face-to-face.

The King was wearing a very charming smile.

"Nice to meet you, Eiralith. And thank you for helping this country!" he said.

Eiji grunted irritatingly. The King looked like he was the same age as them. It looks like he won't be meeting any princesses again.

"No problem. It's our job," Tezuka said professionally. "Tezuka Kunimitsu desu."

The Eiralith members began introducing themselves one by one.

The King noticed a girl being carried in a piggy-back-ride by the one called Kawamura. She was sleeping.

"Anou…" he pointed towards the girl.

Oishi smiled. "Oh! Well, we all had a tough night," he said and forced out a laugh.

"Oh, I see," the King said. "By the way, my name is Shiraishi Kuranosuke."

"Shiraishi, we believe that you could supply the information of lately detected Vesonians for us. We could highly use the data in our further investigations around the country," Inui said.

"Ah, yes," he turned to his desk and began rummaging through mountains of piled papers. He laughed awkwardly at them when he took time in getting the paper he needed. "Sorry about that. Actually, I'm not really the King here… The _real king,_" he glared at the picture frame standing innocently on the table, "wanted to take a vacation because he's too lazy to do his job."

Ryoma's eyes widened for a fraction. He totally understands what Shiraishi was feeling, because of Nanjiroh. Like Shiraishi, Ryoma was forced to be the temporary King of Elphiore because his father wanted to get away and enjoy a three-year vacation. His stupid Oyaji reasoned that he wanted to _train _Ryoma to be the king until he returns.

"O-Oh…" Oishi said, "So… you're not really the King of Skytheria?"

Shiraishi laughed awkwardly again. "No, not really."

"SHIRAISHI!" a loud voice interrupted them as he banged the door open. "I'm hungry! Koharu and Yuuji just left me and eloped again!" he whined and ran towards Shiraishi.

The Eiraliths stared at the newly-arrived kid who looked like he was the same age as Ryoma and Sakuno.

Shiraishi smiled weakly, "Kin-chan, gomen, but I'm talking with important people right now. Go play with Gin-san for a while."

The boy named Tooyama Kintarou pouted. "Mou! Gin is chanting his _Baca Mantras_ again! He would be too focused on his _Mantras_ and would not know I'm right there! Believe me, I tried to punch and kick and drown him while he was chanting but he just completely ignored it!"

"You're exaggerating, Kin-chan," Shiraishi said and patted the boy's red hair.

"I'm not!" Kintarou pouted again. "Mou! Just give me something to eat and then… I'll… leave…" his voice faded when he saw a cute girl sleeping on a guy's back.

Kintarou's mouth opened widely.

Ryoma raised his brows. What was that kid looking at?

He turned his head to where the redhead was looking. He immediately glared at him when he found out that he was drooling over Sakuno.

But Kintarou couldn't see anything besides her auburn hair, long lashes and pink lips. "K-K-Ka… wa.. ii…" It was the first time he ever saw such a cute girl in his life.

"Eh?" Shiraishi stopped patting Kintarou's head and looked at the girl. "Oh, you have a crush on that girl?"

The Eiralith guys literally froze in shock. They fearfully turned their heads to Ryoma. What Shiraishi said just now was taboo, especially if Echizen was there, within hearing range.

And surprisingly, Echizen was just glaring at the redhead, instead of summoning his demon pets and letting them eat the poor kid's soul.

Kintarou blushed and nodded, his eyes sparkling.

It was the first time for Ryoma to have a love rival. Well, Kirihara wasn't counted since he never really took his best friend seriously.

To Be Continued.

* * *

><p>AN: Ugh… whole chapter done in one night (I feel really tired, haha…). And it's an overly cheesy RyoSaku chapter. Ryoma was irritating in this chapter, in my point of view. He goes around being mean to Sakuno and in the end, he apologizes. Yeah, he was a jerk. Anyway, these scenes were needed because they are VERY essential to another future scene, where Sakuno will *** because she thought that *** and Ryoma would go *** and Eiralith were *** and the Vesonians would *** and find out that *** was actually *** and *** at the same time! Haha, spoilers censors XP

Curious about Fuji's past? Well, he's a *** when an *** and he was *** to ***. Lol. Spoiler censors again XP

It's chapter 5 already and I still have not revealed Sakuno's powers yet… Well, for those who want to know, her power is *** XD

Oh, and the Cathedral is another important *** in their ***. It's actually *** they'll *** the *** to *** or *** them XD I'll reveal everything in the future chapters (obviously, lol).

Thanks for the positive reviews for the last chapter :) and please don't hesitate to help me improve my writing skills :D Thank you very much :DD Oh, and Kirihara is Ryoma's best friend in this fic, in case you guys have forgotten :)

Prince of Tennis © *** ***. Lol XD I have got to stop that XP

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi.

Please donate a review to the poor authoress of this fic. Without your kind and generous review, she would suffer from different kinds of disease, like Writer's Block, and Slow Updates. To donate, click the blue highlighted line where the arrow is pointing. Thank you.

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V


	6. Chapter 6

_The young boy with amber eyes balled his fists angrily. He hoped that they wouldn't show up again, but they did._

_Ignoring the speeding run of his carriage, he jumped down. He earned a few scratches and bruises because of his sudden impact with the ground. But he just shrugged it off. He ignored the stop of the carriage and his butler's plea for him to return._

_Instead, he walked towards the alley between two houses and stood warningly a few feet behind those bullies._

_His shadow made the three weird-looking boys stop and they all turned around to face him. The one who seemed like their leader laughed mockingly when he noticed how small the newly-arrived boy was._

"_What? Are you here to protect the little girl?" he asked in his squeaky voice._

_The three bullies were as young as him, but they definitely looked bigger than their ages._

"_Leave her alone," the amber-eyed boy said and glanced over the girl who was still curled up in that small space, her head buried in her knees._

"_What if we don't want to?" the other kid said._

_The amber-eyed boy exhaled deeply. This was going to be the first time he would summon a demon. Before, with his brother, he would only get to touch and play with people's soul. But now, this was to summon helpers and to protect the auburn-head girl._

_A magical symbol appeared on his now-red-colored left eye and another emblem appeared in front of him. From that symbol in front of him, a weird-looking creature crawled out._

"_Take those boys' souls away," the amber-eyed man ordered the demon._

_The creature had no permanent shape. It was colored pitch black but his eyes were of color red. He looked like a shadow with red eyes. The creature obediently followed his summoner's orders and wrapped the three feared boys inside his black body._

"_That's enough," the Soul Guardian ordered._

_The demon released the three boys before he could consume their souls. The three boys ran away in fear._

_The demon floated closer to the Soul Guardian. "Thanks," he said, "I'm going to call you Shadowfox if that's fine with you."_

_The demon just disappeared._

_The amber-eyed man turned to the girl._

_He slowly walked towards her._

**Chapter 6**

Nothing.

That was the exact word that best describes what Echizen Ryoma and Tooyama Kintarou have in common. They absolutely had nothing in common. Echizen was like the North Pole, and Tooyama was the South Pole. Echizen was as cold as ice, and Tooyama was as warm as the sun. The other one was calm and serious while the other one was cheerful and energetic. The Prince is composed and collected when he gets utterly mad, while the Kid yells and aggressively attacks people when he gets mad. Physically, the one had dark green hair while the other one had red spiky hair. So nope, there was nothing they have in common.

The only thing they had in common is their feelings for the girl named Ryuzaki Sakuno.

Kintarou scooted closer to the sleeping girl on Kawamura's back. He blushed again as he stares at her sleeping form. She was really the cutest person he had ever seen in his life. She was much, much cuter than a bunny rabbit or a tiger cub.

He cheerfully spun his head around with a bright, big smile to look at Shiraishi. "Nee, nee Shiraishi! Who is this girl? Do you know her?" he asked with enthusiasm.

Shiraishi forced a weak laugh and scratched his cheek with his bandaged arm. He was about to answer the child when he sensed the warning glances Eiralith was giving him. "Uhm… sorry, Kin-chan… I don't know who this girl is…"

"I know exactly who she is," Echizen suddenly said.

Kintarou saw that a boy with dark-green hair walking closer to him. He smiled and cheerfully asked, "So, who is she? What's her name? Where does she live? What does she do?"

"First, she's my fiancée. Second, her name is none of your business. Third, she lives _with me. _And lastly, she's _my_ fiancée," Ryoma answered as he glared daggers at the spiky redhead.

Kintarou only blinked at him confusedly. He turned his head to Shiraishi again. "Nee Shiraishi, what's a finance?"

"Ah well… it's _fiancée, _Kin-chan, not _finance,_" Shiraishi answered.

"So?" the redhead asked again with his big innocent and curious eyes, "What's a fi—fia—fina—fiancée?"

"That kid seriously doesn't know what fiancée meant?" Eiji asked in a whisper-tone to Oishi.

"Ah, well, a fiancée is—"

"It means she's mine, not yours," Ryoma answered.

Kintarou looked at him with wide, innocent eyes at first then he pouted. "A fiancée means she's mine not yours? That's a weird description."

"It's not," Ryoma answered angrily. "So stay away from her."

"Eh? Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you're stupid," Ryoma almost yelled.

"I should stay away from her because I'm stupid and she's a fiancée?" Kintarou asked confusedly.

Ryoma slightly leaned back, feeling weird out by the kid. "You—he stared at Kintarou more—are one confused kid," he said.

Kintarou only grinned childishly. "Well actually, I don't know a lot of things because my parents died before they can give me proper education! And because they died when I was young, I lived on the streets because I think I don't have other relatives left! And then, when I tried to rob Shiraishi and Chitose five years ago, instead of giving me their money, they took me home and fed me and dressed me and let me study here in the castle!" he said happily.

The Eiralith sweat dropped. How can he smile like that if he had lived a miserable life?

Echizen narrowed his brows. The kid had the exact same past as Ryuzaki's. Was it a mere coincidence? Or…

He grunted.

Who is that kid?

Their tongue-tied silence was broken when Shiraishi laughed awkwardly. "Anou… Kin-chan, why don't you play with some of our guests while I talk to Tezuka-san here…"

Kintarou immediately beamed happily. "Really?" he excitingly grabbed Kawamura's arm, "Let's go, sideburns! I want to show her around!"

Kawamura confusedly let himself be dragged away by the redhead. And Echizen followed them.

The other Eiralith members turned to look at Shiraishi.

"I would like to talk with Tezuka-san and Inui-san privately, if possible," Shiraishi said.

They nodded understandingly and all but Tezuka and Inui left to go outside.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Nee, nee, when will you wake up?" Kintarou poked the snoozing Sakuno gently.

"Anou… she had a tough night. She's really tired, so I guess it's best for you not to wake her up…" Taka said softly.

Kintarou pouted. "Mou… that's unfair."

"Haha, gomen, Tooyama-san…" Taka said weakly.

Then, Kintarou grinned toothily. "Nee, can I carry her in my back instead?"

"Eh?"

"NO!" Eiji and Momo opposed to it immediately.

All of them were taken in the garden outside the castle by Tooyama, who was eager in making Sakuno wake up along their way there.

"Eh? Why not?" Kintarou stomped his feet like a child.

"Because!" Momo and Eiji said at the same time. "Ryuzaki-chan is Echizen's! What part of it can't you understand?"

Kintarou grinned at them mockingly. He pointed his index finger at them with his other hand on his hip. "YOU are the ones who can't understand it! This cute girl is a _fiancée, _not an _Echizen._" Then, he looked at them questioningly. "Say, what's an _Echizen_?"

"Idiot," Ryoma muttered under his breath.

Apparently, Kintarou heard him. "Oh! So that's what _Echizen _means! Echizen means an idiot!"

His senpais snickered.

"Anyway, let me play with her!" Kintarou said excitingly and grabbed Sakuno's arms that were wrapped on Kawamura's shoulders.

The moment the childish kid touched her arms, Echizen fired up, literally.

"Get your filthy hands off her," the prince hissed.

Taka tried to stop Kintarou from getting Sakuno but they discovered that Kintarou had an unimaginable strength and he managed to lift Sakuno like a plushie.

Kintarou hugged the unconscious Sakuno like a toy. "Kawaii! This girl is really cute!"

The senpais all had their arms on Ryoma, stopping him from committing murder. Ryoma struggled in his senpais' hard grip on him. "Let me go, you doorknobs! I'm going to kill that kid!"

Then, Sakuno's eyes slowly opened. Kintarou stared at the pair of russet orbs as they landed on his eyes. "Eh? Where am I? Who are you?" she asked with a cracked voice, her eyes were still droopy and her head was all foggy.

"You're in the castle now!" Kintarou answered with a huge grin, "And my name is Tooyama Kintarou! Nice to meet you!"

Sakuno's droopy eyes widened. "T-Tooyama… Kintarou…?"

"Hai hai hai!" he replied with full of energy. "What's your name? Huh? Huh?"

"O-Oh… R-Ryuzaki… S-Sakuno…" she answered meekly. She was unaware of what was happening and why she was with that Tooyama boy. The last she remembered was being with Ryoma in a Cathedral…

"Wai wai! Sakuno-chan!" he exclaimed gleefully and hugged her tighter.

"Let me go, let me go, let me go! I'm gonna fucking kick that asshole's ass!" Ryoma yelled at all of his senpais that were restraining him.

Sakuno only blushed at the boy's intimate gesture with her. "A-Anou…" His actions made her wake up completely.

"Oh right!" Kintarou said and let go of her. But he immediately held her hand anyway. "I wanna show you something! Come! Come!" he ran happily, dragging a still-confused Sakuno back inside the castle.

"I SAID LET ME GO!" Ryoma yelled and his glaring eyes began to change. His emblem appeared on his left eye and he summoned all of his ferocious demons out.

His demons began attacking all of his senpais, who ended up running away from them, if they don't want their souls to get eaten.

Ryoma, seeing that his senpais were all _busy _at the moment, he ran after where Kintarou and Sakuno disappeared to.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

_*Chanting Baca Mantras*_

Kintarou pointed cheerfully at a tall bald guy who was sitting in the middle of an empty room with tatami mats as floors and rice paper as walls. "He's Gin! He's my playmate! But right now, he's too focused in his chants to even notice or hear us!" Kintarou said joyfully as he ran towards Gin.

Sakuno tried to stop him but Kintarou began punching and scratching and splashing water on Gin's face.

She sweat dropped when she saw that Gin didn't even move a muscle and just continued on chanting like nothing happened.

"See?" Kintarou grinned.

He walked towards her again and held her hand to drag her to another room inside the castle.

Oddly enough, the castle looked normal and medieval-like on the outside, but looked like a Japanese temple on the inside. Sakuno just ignored the weird architecture of the place and left it deep in her mind.

Kintarou slid another paper wall and they both saw a black-haired and a brown-haired man playing Japanese chess with each other. They turned their heads when they saw Kintarou.

"Oh, what brings you here, Tooyama-san?" the black-haired guy asked in boredom.

"That guy is Zaizen, and the other one is Kenya!" Kintarou pointed happily as he introduced his friends to her.

Kenya grinned cheekily. He stood up and walked over to Kintarou and Sakuno by the doorframe. "Who's this, Tooyama? Your girlfriend?" he asked as he crossed his arms with a sly grin.

Sakuno blushed immediately. "U-Uhm… n-no! I'm—"

"Sa-chan's a fiancée!" Kintarou answered proudly.

Zaizen and Kenya sweat dropped. "Fiancée?" The kid didn't even know how to properly construct a sentence, they both thought. And knowing Kintarou, they were sure that he doesn't even know what _fiancée_ means.

Kintarou nodded. "She's a fiancée which means she's mine not yours! You guys are a bunch of Echizens if you don't even know that!"

"Echizens?" the two asked simultaneously.

Kintarou just laughed arrogantly and took Sakuno's hand and dragged her away again.

"Nee, Kenya-san… What's an Echizen?" Zaizen asked.

Kenya scratched his head, and then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure it's a new word kids uses these days."

"So?" Zaizen asked again, "What does Echizen means?"

Kenya grinned arrogantly. He pretended he knew by saying, "Ah, Zaizen! You're still too young and too inexperienced! Come on! Let's just continue our shogi." He then walked towards their chess board and sat on one side.

Zaizen rolled his eyes. "You don't know what it means, do you?"

Kenya just laughed and gestured Zaizen to sit across him and continue their damned game.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Shiraishi sat on the couch placed in front of the King's desk and politely gestured Inui and Tezuka to sit across him. Some attendants offered the two guests some tea and their conversation continued.

"Now, getting back to our talk," Shiraishi said and handed Tezuka the paper he was still holding. "That's the list of the women's names and occupations who were kidnapped by Vesonians."

Tezuka scanned the paper and gave it to Inui for him to record the data.

"The only thing the women had in common is that they were wizards and their names start with the letter S," Tezuka said sternly.

Shiraishi nodded. "Yes, all of those women are wizards. And I don't know if it's coincidence or not, but their first names start with that particular letter. I'm afraid that the Vesonians took them to recruit them as new members of Vesonia. If that's the case, then we'd be in trouble. And I still don't know what the letter S had to do with it."

"But why only women?" the Eiralith captain asked.

"I still don't know the reason behind that," Shiraishi answered with slight disappointment at himself. "But I'm pretty sure that it was the Vesonians behind this."

"Defend your statement," Inui said as he finished copying the data in his notebook.

Shiraishi stood up and rummaged over the pile of papers on the original King's desk again and after a while, he got what he was looking for. He tiredly sat back down on the couch and dropped the photos he got on the coffee table between them. "Those are the pictures of the places where the victims were last seen."

Inui and Tezuka took the photos and examined them randomly.

The photos imaged different places and in different times. There was one were the picture was taken in a busy street, one in the forests, one inside a store, one inside a room, one on top of a roof. And all of those places had the marks of a Vesonian, exactly the same one as the symbols tattooed on Marui and Jackal's skins before.

"So, it's positive," Tezuka said as he threw the photos back in the table gently, "We're facing Vesonians again."

"Again?" Shiraishi repeated, confirming.

"We just fought three Vesonians a few days ago," Inui said.

"Are they strong?" Shiraishi asked Tezuka seriously.

"Yes," the captain did not hesitate, "I didn't get the chance to know my opponent's true power."

"The Vesonians seemed to have their country's marks tattooed on their skins as identification," Inui added, "And Echizen also told us that the one he fought told him that their powers require the user's will to have them activated."

"I conclude that Vesonians are still not that strong enough to summon their powers without their will then," Shiraishi said.

"True," Tezuka nodded stonily, "If they don't have the will, it is possible for them not to be able to use their magic."

"Anyway, back to the disappearing women," Inui said and turned his notebook to an empty page, "The reason behind the disappearances of women is still unknown. So as the reason behind their names starting in S. But in my hypothesis, they are searching for a specific female wizard with a name starting in S; they need something from her. And if the disappearances continue, then it is highly possible that they still could not locate where to find that person."

"It doesn't make sense, Inui," Tezuka opposed, "If that is the case, then in our previous mission in Heyrth, why did they only take the occupants of the inn? The occupants they had taken were both male and female, some humans and some are not."

Inui's glasses beamed. "Their purpose in every country is different. Although what I said is just a hypothesis, we could count that their business in Heyrth is different here, in Skytheria."

"So are you saying that they're suspecting that a female wizard with the name starting in S is residing here? And whoever that woman is, they're looking for her?" Shiraishi asked.

Inui nodded. "It's also possible that another set of Vesonians are the one doing business here. So, it's possible that Marui, Jackal and Yagyuu aren't the ones assigned here."

Shiraishi sighed.

"Anyway," Tezuka said turning to Shiraishi, "Do you have an idea who they are going to take next?"

"Ah yes," Shiraishi said and moved to Osamu Watanabe's, the Original King, desk and rummaged through the pile of papers again. After another while, he managed to get the papers he needed and gave it to Tezuka. "This is the list of all female residents of Skytheria, in alphabetical order."

"But the last names are the only ones arranged alphabetically," Tezuka said after he scanned the paper.

Shiraishi nodded with his eyes closed. "Exactly. That's why you guys are going to help me sort this out!"

Tezuka's brow visibly twitched.

"Don't worry," Inui said. "I'll handle this."

The dataman wrote something in his notebook and tore it out. They saw that Inui had written the words 'Arrange the First Names Alphabetically' in the paper. Inui dropped the paper on the list. And they watched silently as it magically rearranged itself. The words were coming out of the paper and began to line up accordingly by the first names.

After a few more seconds, the names were arranged by the first names in alphabetical order.

"Wow!" Shiraishi said in awe. "So you're a Spell Writer?"

Inui nodded.

Tezuka took the list and skipped to the letter 'S'.

"There are still 273 women with names starting in this letter," Tezuka said.

"How are we going to find out which one the Vesonians are going to take next?" Shiraishi asked.

Inui and Tezuka told him their suggestion—which was gathering all 273 women in the castle and guarding _all _of them intently.

Shiraishi sighed tiredly just thinking of all the hard work. Then, his mind hit an idea. "Wait, there is one way where we could find out which of the 273 women the Vesonians will take next!" he said, rather proudly. Then, his expression turned serious, "But there is a catch."

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Chitose!" Kintarou yelled happily.

Sakuno looked inside the room and saw a black-haired guy reading a book. She bowed her head a little, politely greeting him with a soft, "Hello…"

Chitose looked surprisingly at them and after a few seconds, he smiled. "Hello there. Is she your new friend, Kintarou-san?"

Kintarou nodded happily and dragged her inside. "This is Sakuno-chan! She's a she's mine not yours!"

Chitose sweat dropped. "Eh?"

"She's a fiancée!" he cleared it out.

Sakuno blushed. "Uhm… a-actually… anou… well… I'm not really a…" The whole time she was with the childish boy, she tried to correct him of his mistakes such as she's a 'fiancée' and Echizen means idiot. But the kid didn't even seem to hear her, so she just put up with his mistakes as he introduced her to his friends.

Chitose flashed a nice smile towards her. "Don't worry, I know what he meant," Chitose turned to Kintarou, "Where did you find her?"

"Sa-chan's in Osamu-chan's office earlier! She was with these 9 guys who all looked the same age as you, Shiraishi, Koharu, Yuuji, Zaizen, Gin and Kenya!"

Chitose blinked. If Kintarou's descriptions were correct, then this girl could be…

The older man turned his head to Sakuno. "Are you an Eiralith?"

Sakuno's cheeks reddened. She nodded timidly. Inside, she felt happy about being an official member, not that she was not a member before. Ryoma disapproved of it first but now everything was fine.

Chitose chuckled. "Ah, I see! Sorry if Kin-chan dragged you around. You must be busy!"

"A-Ah… n-no! I… I mean… It's okay… Tooyama-san is really nice…"

Kintarou pouted. "I told you before already! Call me Kin-chan!"

Sakuno blushed even redder than before. "I-I can't… I-I mean.. w-we just m-met... and i-it's e-embarrassing... A-And I'm not r-really used i-in being c-close with o-other b-boys…"

Kintarou was about to talk again when a voice interrupted them.

"Finally, I found you, Jungle Boy," Ryoma said as he entered the room. His eyes were glaring at him intently.

Chitose looked at him. He instantly recognized his green hair and amber eyes. "Ah, so you're the King of Elphiore, Echizen Ryoma. I heard about you from Kenya's cousin, Oshitari Yuushi of Heyrth."

Kintarou blinked. "Echizen…?" he asked again. Then, he laughed hysterically. "You're Echizen?" he clutched his belly and pointed a finger at the furious Ryoma. "Do you know what your name means!" tears formed on his eyes as he rolled on the ground and laughed even harder. "Your name means 'idiot', idiot!"

"Look who's talking," Ryoma said with a vein twitching on his forehead.

"Ryoma-kun… don't be rude," Sakuno said.

"He's the one being rude," Ryoma said and took her hand.

Kintarou stopped laughing and stood up properly. "Hey, hey, hey! Don't touch Sa-chan! She's a fiancée, which means she's mine and not yours!" he yelled.

"Honestly, how stupid can you possibly get?" Ryoma said arrogantly.

"Ah, there you are Kintarou-san!" Another voice interrupted.

They saw two other men entering the room.

Kintarou grinned. "Koharu, Yuuji! I thought you guys left me and eloped!"

The one named Koharu feigned hurt. "How dare you think of us like that? How rude!"

Kintarou just grinned.

"Anyway, Kura-chan's calling for everyone," Yuuji said. "All Eiralith members and all Silverchain members."

Ryoma and Sakuno looked at them curiously. "Silverchain?"

Koharu, Yuuji, Chitose and Kintarou grinned at them knowingly.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"We're the Silverchains. Skytheria also has an Underground Group of Investigators like Elphiore. Elphiore's Underground Group is called Eiralith, and Skytheria's is called Silverchains. And we're the members of it. Like you guys, we investigate L-Class to S-Class missions, and even accept missions involving Vesonians, our allies' greatest enemies," Shiraishi said as he introduced the Eiralith to the Silverchains.

Right now, all the Eiralith members, except Tezuka, Inui, Ryoma and Sakuno, were dead tired from running from Ryoma's demons, whom the prince forgot to summon back until they were called by Shiraishi. They spent most of the afternoon trying to get their souls saved. They could only glare at Ryoma at the hell he had made them been through.

"Anyway," Shiraishi added, "I think it's a nice opportunity for the Silvers to help Eiralith with this mission. This collaboration would increase the possibility of finally catching a Vesonian."

"Joining Eiralith is fine with me," Zaizen said with a straight face.

"So, captain~" Koharu said, "What's the mission for today? Still about the missing females?"

Shiraishi smiled. "Yes."

Inui supplied the information they discovered with their talk with Shiraishi earlier with the other Eiralith members, who are all still panting and tired from all the running.

"So, with the information being told, I would want to tell you, the members of Eiralith, that the Silvers has an idea on how we could find the right girl out of the 273 females left in this country," Shiraishi said.

"How?" Momo asked.

"The moonstone," Shiraishi replied.

"Moonstone?"

"It's an item that can only be found here in Skytheria. The moonstone can show us the 'Right Answers to Our Hearts' Desire'," Chitose answered for them.

"What?"

"It's basically a Fortune-Telling Crystal, only it's in the form of a mirror," Zaizen replied, still straight faced.

"But using it is a little bit tricky," Kenya said, "It can only be used once per person. And it shows what really the person desires. We just can't ask it to tell us who the next victim is, unless we desire it."

"So, we need to force ourselves into desiring in seeing who the next victim is!" Oishi said encouragingly.

"Yeah!" Eiralith answered high-spirited, after finally recovering from the physical abuse Ryoma's demons made them feel.

"So, where can we find it?" Kaidoh hissed.

"It's under the possession of an angel named Silverflame," they answered.

The Eiraliths' eyes widened in shock. An angel?

The fifth of the Universal Law: _A magician would lose his power if his power was used against any creature from the heavens._ This is the reason why wizards and magic users avoid any heavenly creature as frequently as possible. If they attack a heavenly creature, their powers would automatically disappear. Wizards are weak against Heavenly Creatures. Heavenly Creatures are weak against Humans. And Humans are weak against Wizards. That was the Universal Cycle of Dominance.

"Y-You're kidding…" Momo said unbelievably.

"No, we're not."

"W-We're going to meet an angel?" Oishi asked in worry, "If we meet an angel, he might attack us! If he attacks us, we can't fight back! Heavenly Creatures are the Wizards' worse enemy!"

"Sadly, that's the only way. We need to meet Silverflame if we want to get the moonstone," Shiraishi said.

"Oh, this is bad!" Oishi muttered in panic-mode.

"We need a human, then," Kaidoh suggested. "If we can threaten a human to make that angel follow us, then everything's going to be fine."

"Now you're kidding!" Momo said and the two started to bicker.

"And how are we going to make that angel come out?" Ryoma asked indifferently.

The Silverchains turned their head simultaneously to Kintarou.

Kintarou grinned at him. "I can summon angels! That's my power!" he stated happily.

Eiraliths' mouths dropped.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"You're a wizard," Momo pointed to Kintarou as the group of Eiralith and Silverchain walked towards the Cathedral where Sakuno and Ryoma spent the night before, "And yet… you can summon angels?"

They said that Silverflame was a different kind of angel. Unlike a normal angel, he can interact physically with humans for as long as he likes. Normal angels could only interact with humans in a short period of time. Silverflame could also hide his wings and dress up as a normal human. But he can only be summoned if the summoner would seek for him in Skytheria's Cathedral—where Silverflame resides. That is why they're heading there.

"Yep," Kintarou said, "I summon them to help me with some of my battles!"

Ryoma narrowed his brows suspiciously at him.

"But Heavenly Creatures and Wizards are natural enemies! How do you tame them?" Oishi asked, intrigued. "And I've never heard a wizard like you before!"

"Angels are really nice! And Silverflame is kinda cool too…" Kintarou said. "Hmm… I guess you can call me a Super Ultra Great Delicious Angel Summoner!" he added proudly.

They sweat dropped.

They stopped when they were across the same Cathedral as before.

"We're going to ask Kintarou to ask Silverflame to let us borrow the moonstone," Shiraishi said. No one from the Silverchain except Kintarou had seen what Silverflame looks like. So, they were also a bit curious on what the angel looks like, like Eiralith.

Then, they all entered the huge Cathedral.

Kintarou ran happily towards the altar in the middle.

If Kintarou can summon angels and Ryoma can summon demons, then they were totally the opposites of each other. This adds to the list of the things they have nothing in common.

He turned to face them and grinned at Sakuno. "Wai wai! Watch me, Sa-chan! I'm going to summon an angel for you!"

Ryoma glared at him. Tooyama still could not understand that Sakuno was taken and continued on chasing after her. He doesn't know if the Jungle Boy was only pretending to be oblivious or if he really was an idiot. Sakuno, on the other hand, still felt uncomfortable with the friendly kid, but is starting to warm up to him a bit. She felt like she had an odd connection with this boy before, though she doesn't know why.

Kintarou turned back around to face the altar. His magical symbol appeared on his right eye, just like Ryoma whenever he was going to use his magic or summon his demons. Then, the same magical symbol in Kintarou's eye appeared on top of him.

They all gasped when they saw flying feathers coming from the magic symbol on top of Tooyama.

Then, the whole place lighted up. They had to squint their eyes to adjust their eyesight to the sudden light.

Ryoma suddenly felt really weak that he dropped on his knees. Sakuno worriedly went to his side. "What's the matter, Ryoma-kun?" she asked with slight fear and worry.

"Nothing…" he replied weakly. He felt like his energy was draining from his body, for some reason.

A pair of wings finally appeared from the circular symbol. And after a while, a human-like figure appeared.

The human figure with white feather wings slowly landed on the floor next to Tooyama and the blinding light slowly faded away.

Kintarou grinned and greeted him. "Yo, Sil-chan!"

'Sil-chan' rubbed his temples despairingly. "Kintarou-kun, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me if it's nothing important?"

They stared at Silverflame. He had silver-colored hair and silver eyes. He also had a pale skin. A weird symbol was tattooed on his right arm down to his hand. The same goes to the left side of his face. His wings were as white as snow. He had no halo and he was wearing a white Greece Toga reaching down to the lower part of his knees. A golden anklet was wrapped around his ankle and another one on his left wrist.

Silverflame noticed many pairs of eyes staring at him. He turned and saw a bunch of strangers looking at him.

"But today, it's something important! My friends wanted to borrow the moonstone!" Kintarou said.

"Moonstone…" Silver said and glanced at Kintarou's friends. None of them seemed familiar except for two 15-year olds whom he had seen last night; Ryoma and Sakuno. He was familiar with the two. Not because he had seen them last night, but because of something else. A man with green hair and amber eyes flashed in Silverflame's eyes as he remembered _the other one. 'So this is the boy _he's _referring to.'_

Ryoma was kneeling weakly on the ground with the girl worriedly supporting him by his side.

"Okay…" Silver muttered.

The Eiralith and Silverchains all beamed upon hearing him approve.

"But, I want something in return," he added.

They grunted.

"Sil-chan! Don't be like that!" Kintarou said.

"Seeing that none of you can actually harm me, I'm not really scared. In fact, I can attack you all I want," Silver said, ignoring Kintarou-kun. Kintarou narrowed his brows.

"Don't say things like that, Sil-chan! They're my friends! They're nice wizards!" Kintarou defended.

"Hai, hai," Silver said unenthusiastically and turned to the other wizards.

"My name is Silverflame, in case you don't know. I would want to hear your polite and proper introduction now," he smirked.

Some of them glared at him but decided not to speak something irrelevant.

They began to introduce themselves.

Silver casually sat on the table the Priest uses during his mass and crossed his legs. His wings disappeared, which shocked some of the wizards. "I want something else in return, just like what I said before."

"What is it you want?" Tezuka asked with narrowed brows.

He pointed his index finger towards them. They followed where they were pointing and figured out that he was pointing at Sakuno.

"I want the girl," he said. The promise he witnessed they vowed to each other last night would be broken someday anyway.

"WHAT!"

The Eiralith began to protest quickly. "We can't give you Ryuzaki-chan! She's our teammate!"

Ryoma tried his best to stand up but he still fell down. He raised his head a bit to look at Silverflame. "Don't… you… touch her…"

"Why do you want Sa-chan, Sil-chan? What are you going to do with her?" Kintarou asked innocently.

"Just listen to me first," Silver said, "I hid the moonstone somewhere in the western part of Skytheria. I want _her _and _only her _to search for it. I'll give her until midnight."

Sakuno stood up and looked at him with a serious and determined face. If this is what the angel wants, then she would do it. She wants to help Ryoma and the others get the moonstone so that they would find out who is the next victim to finally catch the Vesonians. "I accept," she said with dignity.

Silver grinned. "Great. Your time starts now."

Sakuno nodded and ran swiftly outside the Cathedral into the West Skytheria.

"Why did you do that, Sil-chan?" Kintarou asked. Silver didn't answer him. The redhead narrowed his brows and ran towards the exit of the Holy House. "I'll help her!"

"Wait, Kin-kun," Silver stopped him. "If you help her then I will not give the moonstone to any of you. No one goes into the western part or I'll change my mind."

"Why does it have to be her?" Tezuka asked with narrowed brows.

Ryoma kneeled on the ground, feeling helpless and weak.

"No reason," Silver said bluntly. And then, he jumped on the ground and snapped his fingers. His clothes immediately changed and turned to a normal human's casual clothes. "I'm off. I'll be back here by midnight. If she's not here with the moonstone by then, the deal's off."

They watched as Silver walked to the exit of the Cathedral. But before he stepped out, he added. "And oh, by the way," he turned around to look at Ryoma's figure, "You better take that Demon Summoner away from sight. Whenever he'll see me, he'll be like that," he said.

"What?" Oishi asked worriedly.

"I'm an angel. And he summons demons. Angels can naturally purify demons at will. In his case, my mere presence can purify him. If he sees me any longer or even stands on the same ground as me, then he'll slowly lose his ability to summon his demons… or… his demons would burn from God's holiness."

After Silver said that, he walked away, blending with the human crowd outside.

They stared after where Silver disappeared. Then, Shiraishi ordered Gin to carry Ryoma outside and let him rest in the castle. For now, the only thing they could do is to hope for Sakuno to find the moonstone before midnight.

They began walking back to the castle's direction. They decided to help Ryoma recover first. The only ones left in the Cathedral were Shiraishi, Tezuka, Fuji, Inui, Kaidoh, Zaizen, and Chitose. They were going to wait in the Cathedral until midnight to see the results of Sakuno's search.

"Is Silverflame really like that?" Koharu asked Kin-chan as they were heading back to the castle.

Kintarou shook his head. "He's usually laid-back and always complaining about things," he bowed his head sadly, "I wonder how Sa-chan's doing right now…"

"Don't worry about Ryuzaki-chan! She's pretty strong!" Eiji said confidently.

Momo looked at the weakened state of Ryoma as he was being carried by Gin. Oishi was a Healer so once they get back to the castle, he would treat Ryoma immediately. But their main concern was if Ryoma recovers, he'll stubbornly go help Sakuno or worse, try to get into a fight with the angel. So, they needed to secure him to a place where he won't be able to go out.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Three hours after they arrived back at the castle, Oishi was still transferring some of his energy to Ryoma. The young prince was lying down on a comfortable bed as his senpai treats his lost of energy.

Silverflame's words bothered Ryoma. He was planning something, that's for sure. He wanted to come to Sakuno's side as soon as possible. But right now, he couldn't even feel his legs. And, if what the angel said was true, then he's powerless against him and Jungle Boy.

But seriously, how could a mere wizard summon an angel? That's impossible.

And why does he feel like he already knew Silverflame and Jungle Boy for a long time? It felt like he had already met them years ago…

"There, you're fine now, Echizen," Oishi said.

Ryoma tried to stand up but he can't. "Oi, why can't I stand up?"

"It's because of Silverflame's presence shocked your body," the egg-head senpai answered, "And besides, you need to stay in bed for a couple more hours. Your energy is back, but you're still physically restrained." He mentally added that it was also convenient not to have the tennis prince moving so freely around until Sakuno finds the moonstone. If not, then Ryoma would surely catch up to Sakuno and stay by her side to protect her. And Silverflame specifically told them not to got anywhere near the western part of the country or else the deal's off.

"What if the Vesonians find her?" Ryoma asked persistently as he glared at his senpai. "Don't you have a medicine for this kind of physical numbness?"

Before Oishi could reply, Kintarou opened the door of his room and barged in. Behind him were Koharu and Yuuji, who looked like they were chasing after Kintarou. Jungle Boy was carrying a crystal necklace, from what he observed.

As Ryoma stared at the crystal necklace, he felt nostalgia again.

Then, from deep inside his mind, an image of Sakuno and Ryoga appeared in his mind. And he suddenly felt loneliness. He felt like he lost something important and would never be able to find it again.

To be continued.

* * *

><p>AN: Silver is like Yukito of Cardcaptor Sakura when he transforms. Oh, and he was the same 'mysterious person' in the Cathedral last chapter. Anyway, hope you like this chapter :) Many happened in this single chapter, huh? Hope it didn't bore you out ^^' It would be nice of you guys give me your thoughts for this chapter :D

I'm glad that you guys liked the last chapter :) Now, let's go over some questions that may or may not have answers: Why did it seem like Kintarou is very fond of Sakuno? Who is this _other one _Silverflame was thinking? Who is Silverflame exactly and _what _is his purpose? Is it only about the moonstone? Is he going to reappear again? Why is it needed for Kintarou to summon him only inside the Cathedral and unable to do so anywhere else? Will Sakuno find the moonstone in time? And why did Ryoma felt loneliness when he gazed at that crystal necklace? What is that necklace for? Why was Koharu and Yuuji chasing after Kin-chan? AND… Why does the authoress kept on putting spoilers here? Lol. Forgive ren-chan XD Oh and feel free to tell me your guesses :D Who knows? Maybe if I found your guess good I might change the happenings in the plot ;) That and I want to hear your opinions ;D

And yay! I updated early! It's because I simply love the reviews you sent :) It inspired me to type this up and update *grins* And I wanted to finish this as soon as possible… although I think that would be hard considering that school's going to start soon :(

The puzzle's pieces are finally showing! Every little detail is important!

To **lovedubs-kawaii**: I don't see why I should not thell you my age so uh, I'm 17... turning 18 in September :)

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi.

Leave a Review :D

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V


	7. Chapter 7

_The young girl with auburn hair and russet eyes never believed in love at first sight. But she cannot explain why she instantly fell in love with the boy with amber eyes the first time their eyes met. In fact, she believed that it was destiny that let them meet._

_But in reality, it wasn't destiny._

_In fact, destiny had been trying to keep them as far away from each other as possible._

_But it was their stubborn souls, trying to defy fate if it's the last thing they'd do._

_But that was not the case right now. _

_Because they knew and believed that destiny had a future set for them. A future where they'll meet eight new people, and probably more. A future where one will struggle to keep the other one safe. A future where they'll finally know the truth of everything and everyone around them. A future filled with trust and betrayal._

_A future where they would continue on defying fate, just so to be with each other._

**Chapter 7**

Sakuno stared at the central part of the town. She sighed sadly after she gazed over the western part of Skytheria.

As the newest member of Eiralith (and the only female member so far in the first squad), she was already given an important mission. A mission inside a mission. She was chosen by the angel named Silverflame as the one who would search for a significant object called the moonstone. They needed the moonstone to find out who the next victim the Vesonians would attack, so that the Eiralith would be able to face them.

And so, her role for today is important!

She felt happiness when she thought that she was being independent! And that her teammates are depending on her!

After giving herself an encouraging pat on the back, she walked towards the west.

Then, she immediately stopped as she was in a crosslink between the northern and western street of Skytheria.

She sighed again.

She had no idea where to go first. How was she going to find the moonstone if, 1) She didn't know how it exactly looks, 2) It was her first time in that country, and 3) She was a navigationally-challenged girl.

Then, she stared sadly at the ground when she thought of asking help again. She didn't want to do that. She wanted to be independent…

"Having problems?" she heard a voice said behind her.

She spun around and found Silverflame staring at her eyes. He was still disguising as a normal human.

She began feeling nervous and she immediately shook her head. "N-No, I'm f-fine!"

Silver slightly bent his upper body and leaned closer to her. "Are you sure?" he asked, not believing a word she said.

She forced a smile and nodded her head. "I'm p-pretty sure about t-that!" she said in feigned confidence.

"Then, do you know what the moonstone looks like?" he asked expectantly.

A sweat dropped on Sakuno's head. "U-Uhm… y-yes… no… s-sort of… ah, yes… m-maybe…" she dropped her head in defeat, "No…"

"I'm expecting that," he said. He turned around and walked away from her and began leading the way. He stopped when he sensed that she wasn't following him. "Oi, aren't you coming?"

"H-Huh?" She looked at him confusedly. "W-What do you mean? The west of Skytheria is over here…" she pointed to the place behind her.

Silver dropped his shoulders in disbelief. "That's the eastern part," he said as a matter-of-factly.

Sakuno's eyes widened dumbly and she turned her head to the place behind her and back to the place behind Silver. "E-EH?"

"If you continue on being like that, you won't find the moonstone," he said and began walking away.

"A-Ah, w-wait!" she ran after him and walked by his side. "A-Anou… Silverflame-san… a-are you helping m-me?"

Silverflame stopped walking.

He turned his eyes to her. '_She seriously has forgotten about _it_ already… Oh right. This Sakuno-girl isn't really _that girl. _She's just…' _he grinned to himself, _'She's just _the other one._'_

Silver continued walking and replied with a short, "Yeah, I guess."

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

The ones left in the Cathedral just sat randomly around the place as they waited patiently for what is going to happen next.

"Nee, Tezuka-kun," Shiraishi said, "Are you confident in your teammate's ability? Will she find the moonstone in time?"

Tezuka looked at him for a while before he replied, "This is her first S-Class mission with us. But I'm quite confident that she'd be able to find it considering our leader was the one who referred her to join as a member."

Shiraishi looked with awe. "So I guess that she's really good huh? If your leader wanted her, then it means that she's got a talent."

"Speaking of our leader, who's yours?" Fuji asked with the same indifferent smile of his.

Shiraishi smiled back. "I guess you could say that our King and our leader is the same."

"So then, why are you working underground?" Fuji asked again.

Shiraishi winked at him. "Our King wanted us to be a secret."

Fuji chuckled. "I see."

"Since Skytheria and Elphiore are ally countries, I suggest that our group join forces for good," Inui said, "How would you like to join Eiralith?"

"We're sovereign. We work alone," Zaizen answered suddenly.

"Hmm… But joining Eiralith doesn't mean that you lose your group and name," Fuji explained. "Actually, Eiralith is divided into different squads. Those squads are called Relphore's Alliance of Kingdoms. Each squad has different members from different countries. For example, we're from the first squad and all of us are from Elphiore. The second squad's members all came from another country, Fiera. And so on."

"So," Shiraishi said, thinking deeply of Fuji's explanation, "What would be our benefit if we join that alliance?"

"You would be able to receive higher ranked missions. And with higher pays, too." Kaidoh said from the far corner of the Church.

Fuji added, "And, if the mission is too tough, you can call for another squad for back-ups. You can borrow members from different squads."

"I think it's a nice catch," Chitose said to his captain. "I'd say go."

Shiraishi nodded. "And I think Kin-chan would be happy to work with Ryuzaki-san too."

"So? Do you accept our invitation?" Fuji asked with a smile.

"Fuji," Tezuka called sternly. "You're not a high-ranking official in the group. It's against our principles for you to invite new members to join. The only ones who are allowed to invite members are Relphore himself and squad captains."

Fuji chuckled again. "So then, why don't you invite them instead, Tezuka? After all, you're a squad captain. I think you want them to be part of Eiralith too."

Tezuka looked at Fuji and Shiraishi sternly.

"If you invite us, we'll accept," Shiraishi said with a nice smile.

Tezuka sighed. "I'll talk to Relphore about it. For the meantime, the Silverchains should also confide with your leader about that matter," he said professionally.

But Tezuka knew inside him that he wouldn't mind if the Silverchains joined. They appear powerful enough. They'd be a strong addition to the alliance.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Anou…" Sakuno said as she and Silver kept on walking around districts in the western division of the country. "Why would you want to help me if you're the one who had hidden the moonstone?"

"I'm not really here to tell you where exactly it is hidden," Silver rolled his eyes, "I'm just here to give you subtle hints."

Sakuno smiled cheekily. "I think you really wanted to help us, am I right?"

"No, it's not you who I want to help," he said.

Sakuno's brows raised questioningly. "Not me? Then who?" she asked.

"_The other one_," he replied.

Her head tilted in confusion. "The other one? Who's that?"

Silver grunted annoyingly. "I told you! _The other one_."

"Eh?"

"You know who that person is," he replied.

"Who?"

"Someone you know from a long time ago," he replied, again.

"Eh?"

"Know what, never mind. Anyway," they stopped as they were in the middle of an empty street.

She glanced over the silent area. She looked back at Silver. "Is the moonstone hidden in this place?"

"No," he replied, "this is where you'll start looking for it."

"O-Oh…" she looked around again, a finger pointed at her chin. She had no idea where to start… oh right, Silver said that this is the place where she'll start looking. She was about to step a foot forward when the angel interrupted her.

"Skytheria's moonstone," he randomly said.

"Huh?" she turned her head to him. "Skytheria's moonstone…?" Why did he suddenly say such a random thing?

"That's your 'subtle hint'," he quoted.

The subtle hint? That was the subtle hint? Can it even be considered as a hint? It was just a sentence. It just told her of what she's looking for. Various thoughts entered her mind as she tried to rack her brain for an answer she's more probably going to get… never… "C-Can you give me more hints?"

"No."

She sighed. Okay then! 'Skytheria's moonstone'—that's the hint. Maybe, if she analyzes the sentence per word, she'd get something.

She first thought of the first word; Skytheria.

It was basically the name of the floating country where she's currently in. Wait… _floating? _The land was floating… hence the name _Sky_theria. It was floating in the _skies. _Okay… so she had the first word: Sky. The next one was 'the' from Sky_the_ria. Though the pronunciation is similar as to how one would pronounce '_thi' _in the word '_thi_nk'it can be directly referred to what it originally word is commonly used before adjectives to serve as a noun… Or just simply saying _that_ to refer to a noun. So now she had the second word: the. So far, she got the words 'Sky' and 'the'. Sky the? The sky? Right! The sky!

Silverflame is referring to the sky!

But wait. There is still one thing missing in the word 'Skytheria'. She got the word 'Sky' and 'The' and so the last one is 'Ria'. What does that even mean? It's not even a word. Ria… hmm… Ria… maybe, if she rearranged the letter, she'd get something… iar, ira… air… air… AIR! That's right! Air! That word made perfect sense! So the first word in Silver's subtle hint may mean The Sky Air. Or The Air Sky. Whichever.

And since Skytheria is a land floating in the skies, it could be translated to the actual air she's breathing right now. This air around her is what Silver referred to as The Sky Air. So it could also be said that he's referring to the wind around her.

'Skytheria's moonstone'.

The apostrophe-s in the first word only mean that it owned what the second word is. And that is: moonstone. So Skytheria owns the moonstone.

Moonstone… that was the thing she's looking for…

So, should she also try to think over the word carefully?

'Moon' means… just the moon. The circular thingy from space that served as the light during the nighttime. The moon is Earth's satellite.

'Stone' means a hardened mineral matter. Or just a plain rock.

Literally, a moonstone is a kind of gem. But in Silver's hint… it just meant as a literal moonstone. Or maybe, it's the moon's stone… or the stone's moon…

"I know!" she exclaimed happily.

This startled Silverflame. "Huh?" he said with a lazy voice as if he just woken up. "You're finish thinking already?" he asked as he stood up from his comfortable sitting (sleeping) position on the ground.

Sakuno blushed in embarrassment as she discovered that it was already night. She'd been thinking for five hours straight and she didn't even notice! She was too focused into thinking about two simple words that came out of Silver's mouth that was described as his subtle hint.

"H-Hai…" she answered shyly.

"Okay then…" he paused dramatically, "Where did I hide the moonstone then?"

She smiled. She suddenly asked him, "Anou, can you take me to the nearby open field? Just a really wide grassy field without too much trees and where you can see the moon perfectly."

Silver smirked. Looks like the girl knew what she was doing. He nodded slightly and began heading towards the kind of field she was asking for.

A few walks later, they've arrived in a grassy field—which slightly reminded Sakuno of her training with Fuji-senpai before. It was, as usual, windy. The moon was larger than it normally looks like in Elphiore.

She smiled and ran happily towards the empty space's core. She began walking carefully around the field, looking as if she's searching for something.

And then, a slight glinting object from the ground was enough to get her attention. She walked over to where the shining thing was coming from and squatted to see it.

She smiled to herself, knowing that she fulfilled her mission. She took something on the ground and practically skipped back to Silverflame.

She opened her palms in front of him.

And there laid a mirror-like object with a nicely carved silver frame.

He smirked. "That's the moonstone."

Sakuno beamed and jumped happily around. "I did it! I can't believe I did it! I figured the hint!"

"Wait," he stopped her self-celebration, "How'd you find out about it?"

"Well you see, the word 'Skytheria' simply meant the wind. And so, I thought about a place where it's usually windy. And a wide open space entered my mind. The word 'moonstone' was a bit difficult though. I had to go around in circles. And in the end, it turned out that the moon only refers to the light it makes to hit the ground, or in other words, 'the moonlight'. The stone is going to reflect the light coming from the moon. And that's where the moonstone is hiding!" she said, girly pride evident in her voice.

Silver clapped his hands. "Great. As expected. But actually, the word 'moonstone' from the hint is just something to confuse your mind. You don't really need to think about it. Just the word 'Skytheria'. Because once you figured out about this field, then it's automatic that you're going to see the shining moonstone."

Sakuno's jaw dropped. "E-E-EH?" And the second word from the hint took the longest time to think about. Gosh, she was such an idiot. A complete idiot.

"Oh, and based from our agreement, you should return to the Cathedral by midnight, or else I'm not going to give you the moonstone even if you found it."

The next thing he saw was her rushing out and heading towards the Cathedral.

He sighed to himself. Then, his mouth formed a relieved smile. _'This Sakuno is a bit different from what _he _described. She's more cheerful and energetic than his description.'_

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Ryoma was still on the bed when Kintarou and the comedy duo arrived in his room. Oishi-senpai just finished healing his weakened power when the three arrived.

"What's that?" Ryoma asked as he pointed towards the crystal necklace Kintarou was holding. He was really curious about that necklace. And he felt that he already saw it before…

Kintarou lifted the necklace up so that Ryoma would have a better view of it. "This is the—"

"Kintarou-san!" Koharu scolded like a mother with his hands on his hips. He and his 'lover', Yuuji, found Kintarou sneaking inside Shiraishi's room a few minutes ago. They observed what the youngest Silverchain member did inside their beloved captain's room and found out that he took the necklace out of Shiraishi's bedroom cabinet where Shiraishi usually hides it. And so, the comedy duo chased after Kintarou throughout the whole castle to try to get it back until Kintarou ended up in Ryoma's room. It was the same necklace that Shiraishi confiscated from Kintarou years ago. The necklace was Kintarou's to begin with but once Shiraishi saw it, he immediately took it from him and explained that the crystal was overflowing with dark magic and it'd be dangerous for Kintarou to hold it. From then on, Shiraishi hid it from Kintarou, but what he doesn't know is that Kintarou knew where he hid it since the beginning.

"Kura-chan already warned you not to take it back, didn't he? He'll be mad once he finds out about this!" Koharu said as he stomped towards Kintarou and tried to take it from Kintarou's grip.

Kintarou just dodged his homosexual senpai as the latter tried on taking it from his hands. He whined, "Mou, it's unfair! This necklace is mine! Even though it has that dark-something thingy, it's still my mine! And I want to show it Koshimae!"

Kintarou and Koharu (and now, Yuuji) continued on fighting over the necklace. This kept going until Kintarou accidentally threw the necklace over the air when Yuuji bumps into his arms.

They dramatically stared at the 'flying' necklace as it slowly drops down.

They gulped in nervousness. It was a dark item, what would happen to them if that thing broke?

Well, in Kintarou's thought, he was more afraid of what Shiraishi would do to him once it breaks. He might remove the bandages in his arm and kill him!

But their expected outcome of the crystal dropping into the ground and breaking into tiny pieces was stopped when its lace _coincidentally _landed around Ryoma's head.

Ryoma stared at the necklace he was wearing.

Koharu, Yuuji and Kintarou (and maybe Oishi) sighed in relief.

And then, Ryoma fainted.

"AH!" Oishi panicked. "E-E-Echizen! W-What happened to you? W-W-What did that necklace do to you?"

Yuuji looked at them with exaggerated seriousness. "Maybe, the dark magic is starting to spread over his body. Maybe this is why Kuranosuke-sama didn't want the necklace around."

Oishi and Kintarou gulped in nervousness. While Koharu _lovingly _admired Yuu-kun's tensai-ness.

They looked at Ryoma.

He was sleeping… but his eyes were tightly shut closed. His hands were gripping the sheets of his bed tightly too.

"Koshimae… looks like… he's…"

Oishi and the comedy duo looked at him inquiringly, impatient at what he's going to say next.

"… Constipated…"

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

_Ryoma suddenly woke up from his daze. 'What the… What happened…? Am I… dreaming…?'_

_He looked around._

_He was standing in the middle of a wooden hallway. He turned to his right and saw a sliding door. Now that he had observed that place where he was standing, it looked like he was inside Skytheria's Japanese-Style Interior. But for some reason, it felt like a different timeline. He felt like he was inside Skytheria's castle three thousand years ago._

"_Oh, there you are Echizen!" he heard a man's voice said from behind him. He turned around and saw a boy who looked the same age as him. He had no idea who this person was…_

"_Horio…" he called the boy's name. _

_He was inwardly surprised. He knew he doesn't know who that boy was, so then why did he know his name? This place was starting to get really suspicious._

"_Your brother's looking for you," Horio said._

_Ryoma nodded and began walking away._

_His feet dragged him across another room, where he assumed it was his brother's room. He still didn't know what was happening, but reminiscence was filling his senses. He had the feeling that all of these happened before. He felt that he lived here before. He felt like he knew what was going to happen next._

_He unconsciously knocked on the door._

_For now, he concluded that he was inside someone else's body who looked exactly like him. And that person who looked like him was around 8-10 years old._

"_Come in," a familiar voice said._

_Ryoma slid the door opened and bowed his head._

"_Ah, Chibisuke…" the man in the room said, "Come here and sit in front of me."_

_Ryoma nodded and slid the door closed behind him. He walked towards his brother, Ryoga, who was wearing a lose Kimono and lazily lying on the tatami floor. He sat in front him with his feet under his bottom. He bowed respectfully at the older sibling with his hands on either side of his knees. _

_Ryoga sat up properly and looked at his younger brother intently. "I found you and our third cousin, Ryuzaki Sakuno, talking to each other today. You guys seem to be having fun," he said in a low, scary voice._

_Ryoma nodded, his fists tightening._

_Ryoga placed a finger under his chin and rubbed it thoughtfully. "From what I remembered, you and our dear cousin were very close. In fact, you told me when you were younger that she's your favorite cousin."_

"_And why are you making a big deal out of this?" Ryoma asked with a straight face._

_Ryoga eyed him intently. _

"_Are you suggesting something?" Ryoma added knowingly._

_Ryoga smirked at him arrogantly. "I think you're the one who has something to say."_

_Ryoma sighed deeply. He nodded and then bowed politely in front of the Head of the House. He knew he was going to tell his brother about it sooner or later. And since the two are alone right now, this was the perfect opportunity for him to tell him what he wanted to years ago. "I love her. I want to marry her someday. I'm asking for your permission."_

_The older Echizen was just looking at him with a blank face._

_Their silence was breathtaking in Ryoma's mind. What could his brother's answer be?_

_Then, Ryoga stood up and walked towards the sliding door. Ryoma watched him as he left without even a single word. He wondered what his aniki had in mind. He hoped that he approved of his wishes._

_The next morning, while Ryoma was wandering around the House, he caught sight of a panic-stricken Osakada Tomoka. She was running towards him. She stopped when she was near him and panted for breath. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Ryoma-sama," she said._

_Ryoma raised a curious brow. Why was his loudmouthed cousin looking very intense and fearful? "What happened?" he asked curiously._

"_Ryoga-sama," she panted, "He… he… attacked Sakuno… last night…"_

_After Tomo's words, Ryoma felt like blood drained from his body. "Ryoga… he… what?"_

_Tomo continued panting as she replied, "Last night, for some unknown reason… he hit Sakuno continuously. I-I think Ryoga-sama had nightmares again and he released his anger on Sakuno!"_

_Ryoma turned his heels and ran towards his beloved cousin, Sakuno's, room. He hastily slid the door open and stared at her sleeping form under the mattress. Next to her was Oishi-nii-san, one of his many cousins, looking as if he just finished bandaging her wounds. Oishi-nii-san looked at him when he noticed his presence and smiled weakly. "Ryoma… I'm glad that you came…" he said._

"_Nii-san, what happened?" he asked impatiently as he rushed to Sakuno's side. His eyes widened when he saw bruises in her face. _

"_Ryoga-san did this. I think it's his tantrums again. You know how pressured he is with his job as the head of our family. He just let out his anger on Sakuno here," Oishi said sadly and stood up. He bowed a respectful bow to his younger cousin and turned to leave the two alone._

_Ryoma knew why Ryoga did that._

_It was because of what he said last night, wasn't it?_

So… this is his answer…

_He gritted his teeth angrily._

_Then, he heard the sliding of the door again. He didn't pay attention to who the visitor was since he had his back on him. He heard the visitor's footsteps getting closer to him and stopped just beside him._

"_What a nice view," he said._

_Ryoma's eyes shot open. He knew that voice! He turned his head sideways and found Ryoga grinning evilly at the unconscious Sakuno._

_The younger of the siblings glared at him. _

"_What's with the creepy look, dearest brother?" Ryoga said in a sly tone. Then, he turned serious. "Don't you ever touch her again, am I clear? If ever I find out that you're being romantically linked to her again, worse things will happen," Ryoga said in a warning tone. Ryoma was still glaring at him._

"_I can sense that you don't want me here. Okay, okay. I'm leaving," he added and walked towards the sliding door. But before he closed the door, he said in a low tone, but enough for Ryoma to hear, "Just remember that this is all your fault."_

_Ryoma remained silent even after his brother was gone. Shadows covered his eyes as he punched the floor out of frustration, regret and guilt._

'Just remember that this is all your fault._' Ryoga's words kept on echoing inside his head. It was his fault. If he hadn't fallen in love with her, then Ryoga wouldn't go berserk and attack his family members again._

_That Ryoga had his brain damaged, everyone in the family was sure. He attacks people physically, as if bloodthirsty all the time._

_And unfortunately, the latest victim was Sakuno._

_Ryoga had tormented every family member already. Everyone experienced his rage before, once or twice every year. They were fearful of him, but they can't do anything because of his authority and power. The reason why he was like that was because of his insecurities and enviousness of other people who are healthy, unlike him. The Head was suffering from a serious illness and was afraid of dying, that's why he was emotionally unstable. And because of his fear of dying, he perfected an illegal magic wherein he was turned immortal. Ryoga was immortal, but his sickness was still turning him weak._

_Then, Ryoma noticed that Sakuno's eyes were slowly opening._

_She stared blankly at the ceiling at first before she tilted her head to see Ryoma by her side. She smiled weakly. "Ryoma-kun…"_

"_Gomen… I made you worry again, huh?" she softly said. "Ryoga-sama was mad at me. I don't know what I did. But maybe I really did something to infuriate him."_

No, it's not your fault…

"_But don't worry. I'm fine now," she said, forcing to look cheerful. "I apologized to him as he was torturing me last night… I'm sure he'll forgive me someday…"_

You didn't do anything…

"_That's why when I get better, let's play again… Tomo-chan showed me a wonderful place in the palace yesterday. We haven't been there before," she said, still with the same innocent smile._

I… I… better stop this…

"_Are you kidding me?" Ryoma replied in a harsh tone. Sakuno's smile faded and she looked at Ryoma confusedly._

"_Ryoma-kun?"_

"_I don't want to play with you anymore," he said._

I'm sorry.

_Sakuno's brows knitted in worry. She weakly sat up and looked at him. "What? Why?"_

"_I… hate you…" he said in a low tone._

_Sakuno continued on looking at him worriedly. "W-What are you talking about? Why are you saying that? A-Aren't we friends?" she asked with her voice slowly faltering. She held Ryoma's hand gently. _

'Don't you ever touch her again, am I clear? If ever I find out that you're being romantically linked to her again, worse things will happen.' _Ryoga's warning echoed inside Ryoma's head again._

_He quickly removed his hand away from Sakuno's hold. "Don't touch me."_

Sakuno… please… forgive me…

"_You're nothing but a disgusting filth. Stay the hell away from me. I don't ever want to talk to you again." He feigned harshness. But deep inside, it was like the words he said were being told to him by her; which crashed his heart deeply._

_He stood up without even looking at her face. But he knew she was crying. He turned around and left the room. And left her, for good._

For now… just please… forgive me…

I'm sorry…

I don't want you to get hurt…

If this continues… Ryoga will torment you again…

_Three years later, there was a reunion party held by Ryoga for all family members. Everyone, even the one from the small family branches attended._

_Ryoma and Sakuno, for three long years, had successfully managed to avoid each other. They haven't spoken at all, not even a single word. But because of that, Ryoma had become more serious and lonely. There was no day that passed wherein he didn't think of her._

_Sakuno, on the other hand, looked weaker and thinner. She still smiles, but it was restrained. He knew she was sad. He knew she didn't want their friendship to end. He didn't either… but he had seen her more than a friend. And Ryoga didn't like it._

Whatever…

She just sees me as a friend and cousin anyway…

Nothing… more than that…

_He watched the party with complete boredom. Once in a while, his pair or amber eyes land on a certain auburn-head, who was mingling with their other cousins. But that was as far as he can go. He can't do anything but to just look at her and admire her from afar. Inwardly wishing that he could return the old days when they were happily playing together._

_As he stared at her, his desire of being with her strengthened. Three years. They had no connection whatsoever for three long years._

_The reunion continued until the adults passed out from the sake they drunk. The younger members were already escorted to their rooms. And Ryoga had already retreated to his room to rest his weak body even before the party ended._

_Ryoma was about to go back to his room when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure playing with the water in the House's Koi pond. He told himself to just ignore her and continue on walking down to his room, but his actions didn't listen to him._

_He later found himself several feet away from where she was._

_She later stood up and turned around, surprised in seeing him looking at her._

_She awkwardly bowed in respect for the Head's brother and made a move to walk away when he stopped her._

_He grabbed her wrist and looked at her intently._

What am I doing?

"_U-Uhm… g-good evening… R-Ryoma-sama…" she greeted uneasily._

Ryoma-sama? Since when did she start calling me that? I don't like how it sounds.

"_Anou… I better go to my room now…" she said._

You can't. Don't go. Yet.

"_I need to tell you something," Ryoma said._

_Sakuno looked at him and waited for him to say what he wants._

What? What am I doing? Why am I going to tell her the truth? She's only going to get hurt…

"_I didn't mean it… what I told you three years ago…" he started._

_She patiently listened._

I shouldn't. I must stop.

No.

I want to tell her…

I don't want her to hate me…

Anything but that…

"_I… I did something that made Ryoga mad at me… but he attacked you instead…" he explained, unconscious of what he was doing._

_Her eyes were starting to get glassy._

"_I told him that… that I…" he bowed his head low so that she won't see his face. _

Stop.

That's how far I should go for now.

She doesn't need to know everything.

At least she knew that it wasn't her fault and I didn't mean the harsh things I said three years ago.

"_A-Anyway… what I did doesn't matter… I just want you to know that…" he said._

_Surprisingly, she hugged him tight._

"_Saku… no?"_

"_I'm really happy! I thought you hated me! But now I'm glad that you told me what really happened!" she cried._

_Ryoma hugged her back. _

_They're safe for now. No one would see them; everyone's asleep and Ryoga already retreated to his quarters hours ago. They could hug each other like that for as long as they like. Ryoga wouldn't find out about it._

_Right?_

"_Anyway," Ryoma said, pushing Sakuno gently away from him, "Ryoga told me that I shouldn't interact with you. So until everything's fine, let's just pretend that we're still avoiding each other."_

_Sakuno nodded understandingly._

"_Ryoma-kun, c-could you… could you walk me to my room?" she asked with her pleading eyes._

_Ryoma tried to say no but he just can't. He always loses against her._

"_Okay," he said finally, "But we better hurry. Or else someone might see us."_

_Sakuno smiled and kissed him on his cheek. Ryoma hid his blush. And the two walk hand-in-hand towards Sakuno's room._

She just sees me as her cousin… nothing more…

_When they arrived in her room, he opened the door for her. "We're here. Go to bed."_

_She entered her room but stopped as she was in the doorframe. "Ryoma-kun… can you sleep here? Even for just tonight?"_

_Ryoma shook his head. Though he wanted to, he can't. "If I sleep here, someone may find out what we've been up to."_

_Sakuno held his hand tightly. "But after this, we're going to be distant from each other again, right? Please, Ryoma-kun, I really missed you so much."_

I wanted to say yes.

"_Sorry," he said. "We can't."_

_She looked on the ground sadly._

"_But… someday… I promise. When we get older, we're going to escape from this family. We're going to be free from Ryoga. And when that happens, we can stay together for as long as we like," he said reassuringly. She remained upset but nodded nevertheless._

_And so, she entered her room and he watched as she slowly falls into slumber._

Someday… it will happen…

_The next morning, Ryoga summoned his presence again._

_He curiously wondered what it was for as he seated himself in front of the Head Family. _

"_Good morning, Chibisuke," Ryoga greeted impassively. He was holding a small jar on his hands._

"_Good morning," he greeted back with suspicions._

"_The reunion last night was a success, as always," Ryoga said._

_Ryoma narrowed his brows. Where are they getting at?_

"_Anyway, I just called you to say that I'm approving of your marriage with Sakuno," he added._

_Ryoma's eyes widened. He looked at his brother in slight disbelief and excitement. "Is that… true?"_

And just last night, we promised to be together!

_Ryoga nodded. "I'm happy for you, Chibisuke."_

_Ryoma slightly smiled. He never expected Ryoga to approve! And didn't he say before that he doesn't want him to be romantically linked with her? Maybe he changed his mind._

_Ryoga threw the jar he was holding and it rolled a bit before it landed just in front of Ryoma. The jar's lid opened and fine grains of ashes flowed out of it._

"_What's that for?" Ryoma asked as he looked at the jar and the ashes._

_Ryoga grinned evilly. "It's your future wife!" _

_Ryoma's eyes widened in complete shock._

_Ryoga laughed evilly. "You're not going to get married without your wife, are you? Come on, let's get your marriage ceremony started!"_

_Ryoma's eyes blurred as he stared at the ashes in the jar and on the ground. His vision doubled, no, tripled. His eyes opened really wide._

Sakuno…

_He continued on staring at the ashes._

Sakuno…

_He began trembling. He reached his hand on _her _remains. He stared at the ashes stuck on his hand._

Sa… ku… no…

_Ryoga continued on laughing evilly. "I already warned you, Ryoma! I told you that worse things will happen! But you didn't listen to me! You still seek her out last night! Don't blame me if this happened! Suffer! All of you must suffer! I can't be the only one who's suffering! How does it feel to lose her, huh? Does it hurt? Are you in agony?"_

_Blank…_

_Ryoma's mind shut down. _

_His eyes glared furiously at his brother._

_He stood up and punched him straight on his face._

_The samurais that were guarding Ryoga stood up and stopped Ryoma from what he was doing._

_Ryoma struggled._

_He tried to get to Ryoga._

_Blood dropped from Ryoga's mouth. It was the punch Ryoma made._

_Ryoga stood up and walked towards the restrained Ryoma._

_Ryoga grinned evilly._

"_Kill me…" Ryoma said as he finally calmed down a bit. He was close to hyperventilating._

"_If I kill you, then you'd be together with her. I can't let that happen," Ryoga said with the same evil glint._

_. . ._

"_I shall give you my immortality!" Ryoga insanely said._

Don't…

_Ryoga laughed again and removed the upper part of his kimono, showing his chest where a certain symbol was tattooed on. _

Let me be with her…

_The symbol suddenly glowed and it grew bigger, making it look like it was tattooed all over Ryoga's body._

She's my…

_With one last laugh, the symbol magically flowed out of Ryoga's body and transferred into Ryoma's left eye._

I still want to see her…

_Ryoma felt immense pain when the symbol etched itself on his left eye. He yelled in pain._

Sakuno…

_After the pain was gone, he dropped on his knees. The samurais were looking at him blankly. They bowed at him. "Our Lord!"_

_Ryoma stared at Ryoga._

_The older sibling was dead._

_It turned out that without his immortality, Ryoga would've been dead years ago._

"_You killed yourself just to make me suffer," he gritted his teeth. "You were afraid of dying and yet you preferred not letting me see her again…"_

YOU DEMON! GET BACK HERE AND TAKE BACK THIS IMMORTALITY FROM ME!

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

It had been a while since Ryoma fell asleep (because of the necklace) and Oishi and Koharu tried their best to get the necklace off Ryoma but it wouldn't get off. But for Kintarou, he thinks that Koshimae was just having a dream about constipation and the necklace had nothing to do with it.

The guys with Ryoma inside his room turned their heads to the direction of the door when they heard it open. It was Sakuno and the other guys who waited at the Cathedral.

"Ah, Sa-chan!" Kintarou bounced happily and hugged Sakuno. "How'd it go?"

Sakuno blushed before she replied with a timid, "I found the moonstone." She smiled as she thought that she did well with her job. And Tezuka actually (sorta) praised her for her accomplishment. The guys in the Cathedral all sighed in relief after they found Sakuno running towards them a few minutes before midnight, holding the moonstone, with Silverflame walking casually after her. She told them that Silverflame helped her in finding it, making them confused on why an angel would help them. And after that, since the deal was to have Sakuno find the moonstone and take it to the Cathedral before midnight, which she successfully accomplished, Silver handed the moonstone to them without any other words. And then, he just mysteriously disappeared.

"Yay! You're really awesome!" Kintarou hugged her tightly.

Tezuka and the others turned their heads ahead and saw Oishi and Koharu panicking about something in the bed. He walked closer to them. He saw a sleeping Ryoma who was wearing a weird looking necklace as Oishi and Koharu tried their best to take it off the prince.

"What's going on?" Tezuka asked.

"It's just this nec—" Yuuji stopped speaking.

Kintarou and the comedy duo all gulped in fear when they realized that since Tezuka was there, it was also likely that Shiraishi was there.

Kintarou immediately let Sakuno go and ran towards Shiraishi. He pushed Shiraishi, Chitose and Zaizen out of the room. And after a forced laugh, he shut the door closed on their faces. He locked it afterwards.

He pinned his back on the closed door out of nervousness and internal horror of having Shiraishi finding out about the necklace. "D-Don't worry, Shiraishi! Y-You rest with Chitose and Zaizen! N-Nothing's wrong with Koshimae, so don't worry!" he stuttered. The childish boy sighed in relief when he heard their footsteps slowly fading away.

The Eiralith guys in the room looked at Kintarou in confusion. "What was that for?"

Sakuno looked at the sleeping Ryoma.

Koharu cried and hugged Sakuno. "Gomen~! We just can't take the necklace off of him~! Forgive us~! We tried to use chainsaw already but it just wouldn't break!"

Kaidoh paled. They tried using chainsaw on Echizen? Wasn't that dangerous? What if they cut his head instead of the necklace? And why were they fussing so much about a stupid necklace?

Sakuno sweat dropped. She walked closer to Ryoma and observed him more.

Koharu, Yuuji and Oishi began explaining to them about the necklace and how it ended up around Ryoma's neck. And they also told them about the dark magic it possesses.

"The necklace might be giving him nightmares! What should we do?" Oishi almost cried in frustration.

"Hmph! I think Koshimae is just dreaming about constipation," Kintarou said casually with his arms folded behind his head. "I mean, look at him!" he pointed to Ryoma's expression. "He looks like he's really constipated!"

Sakuno worriedly looked at him.

Then, Ryoma suddenly sat up.

This surprised them all.

He was breathing heavily. His eyes were drowning fear; which was a first thing for Eiralith and Sakuno to see. He was sweating real badly.

"R-Ryoma… kun…?"

When he heard her voice, his head turned to her, his eyes were still looking at her with fear.

And after finally registering that all what happened was just a dream, and that Sakuno was fine, his eyes softened in relief.

He pulled her towards him and hugged her possessively.

She blushed at his gesture. "R-Ryoma-kun? A-Anou…"

"You're… fine… and not… in ashes…" he said in an emotionless tone, as if trying to make himself believe that it was a fact.

"Uhm… Yes, I'm, uh, not in… ashes," she said unsurely, completely clueless about the meaning of what he said.

"Ryoma-kun… anou… it was really a bad dream about constipation, nee?" she laughed awkwardly, "B-But don't worry… Everything's fine now."

Ryoma smirked and decided to play along. "Yeah… constipation…"

"See? I told you it was just about constipation!" Kintarou proudly said.

To be continued.

* * *

><p>AN: So let's go over what happened in this chapter. Can you guys guess what Ryoma's dream is for? And what does it mean? When did it _exactly _happen and _where? _And, based on his dream, if he really was given _immortality, _then why was Ryoma only born 15 years ago? Who is this _immortal Ryoma? _Where is he now? Who are the two samurais back there? Are they dead? Or are they still alive? Where did Kintarou get that crystal necklace? And are they going to believe that Ryoma dreamt about constipation? JK, don't mind the last question XD

Lol. Got you guys thinking there, huh? Like I said, every single detail is important. That dream is important! Don't ignore it! The samurais are well… let's reveal that in the future chapters XD

The puzzle pieces are slowly connecting!

The dream was based from Kisa and Hiro Sohma of Fruits Basket, by the way :D The two of them are like the RyoSaku of Fruits Basket, except they are canon, lol. They're my favorite Fruits Basket pairing XD Anyway, this chapter is longer than the usual ones. I mostly stop typing when it reaches 17 pages. I don't want the interval between chapters to change. But it can't be helped. I need to show the 'dream'. And let's just say that it's my excuse since I'm not going to be able to update fast since school's just around the corner… Thanks for the lovely reviews, I love them and it makes me happy that you guys are still interested in this fic :D

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi

Leave a review :D


	8. Chapter 8

_The little girl with russet eyes stared curiously at the huge oak door in front of her. She had been living in the castle for a few months now, and she was pretty sure that she had already entered every room in the castle except for this one. _

_The butler with emerald eyes gently approached her and held her shoulder in the most respectable way. He told her that there was no one allowed inside the room except the royalties. _

_The girl disappointedly lowered her head and nodded in understanding._

_The emerald-eyed butler changed the topic and led her to another place to get her mind off her curiousness. The russet-eyed girl smiled and silently followed behind him._

_And as they walk away, the oak door opened and behind it stood a young man with amber-eyes._

_He grinned evilly afterwards. "_Looks like Chibisuke has found a new toy."

**Chapter 8**

"This is kind of weird… and unfair," a silver-haired person said. He was talking to a black butterfly floating in front of him. He was standing on a wooden roof of a random house, observing a girl with green hair in a bakery.

"_Stop complaining and just get on with your job. We still haven't found _her," the black butterfly replied, although it seemed that the butterfly was only a tool for communication. It didn't seem like the one actually talking to the silver-haired man.

"Yeah, yeah," the silver-haired person said. "But you know, Sanada, it means that I'm going to fight Silverchains _and _Eiralith, right? And I'm just alone. You didn't even give me a partner. Do just know how unfair that is?"

"_Then use your specialty. Besides, you're better off without a partner, and you know it all too well."_

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You guys are so mean," he grinned. He sat down lazily on the roof.

"_Besides, they will never know who the next target is. It's unlikely they'll find the same person you're looking for." _The black butterfly continued on flapping its wings in front of the man's face.

"Do not underestimate them too much."

The person using the butterfly as his medium of communication sighed and said, "_Just report any important updates to me."_

"Of course."

The black butterfly flew away and circled around the man for a while before disappearing. The man shrugged and lied down on the roof he was staying at.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"And so, let us begin," Shiraishi said.

All the Eiralith and Silverchain members circled around the moonstone. They were about to summon the power of the moonstone. It can show a person's greatest desire and the answers to it. They needed the moonstone to know who the next victim of the Vesonians is out of their researched 273 females in Skytheria.

In other words, they need to focus their hearts into thinking that they desire to know who amongst the 273 female in the country is going to be the next victim of the Vesonians.

"I'm desiring to know who the next victim is… I'm desiring to know who the next victim is…" they all chanted in a weird way.

Kintarou held his laugh.

They were inside a dark room with red lit candles around and they were in a yoga position while encircling the moonstone and chanting _that._

Yup, it's a laughing matter.

After a few seconds, Kintarou let out a loud laugh. He had tears in his eyes as he pointed towards his co-members and Eiralith mockingly.

Tezuka and Kaidoh glared threateningly at Kintarou.

"Hahahaha! That was sooooooooooooooooooo wrong! What you guys are doing! Hahahaha! Damn it, I can't stop laughing! It's all so funny! All of you are freaking funn—except you, of course, Saku-chan~—Gosh, you are all gonna be the death of me!" he yelled as he laughed uncontrollably.

"THERE'S NO OTHER CHOICE!" Oishi tried to defend themselves, embarrassment evident in his voice. "We need to condition our hearts to desire it!"

"IT'S STILL EFFING FUNNY!" Kintarou laughed even more.

Sakuno sighed tiredly. "Mou…" she blushed embarrassedly.

Kintarou noticed it and immediately stopped laughing. "O-Oh, but I didn't mean you Saku-chan! Yo-You didn't look funny at all, swear!"

"I… I just… I wanted to know… so that the Vesonians would finally stop… If we find out who the next victim is… then we could stop the kidnappers from continuing with their plan… and we'd be able to finally come face-to-face with them. If that happens, t-then…" Sakuno's voice faltered.

Fuji found this as an opportunity and took the moonstone and held it to reflect Sakuno's face. Sakuno stared at her reflection with a confused look then at Fuji. "F-Fuji-senpai…?"

The tensai smiled. "Trust me."

The moonstone suddenly glowed. And it replaced Sakuno's reflection with another picture. Everyone got amazed and they all gathered around Sakuno to see what was happening with the mirror.

And inside the mirror, it showed a girl with green hair. She was walking towards the bakery and just went inside.

"Wow, Sakuno-chan, you're so great! You've conditioned your heart to desire to know who the next victim is!" Eiji said excitingly with a huge childish grin.

"Ah…" she was speechless.

"I know who this girl is," Shiraishi said as he recognized the green-haired girl, "Her name's Shizuka Knightsley. She's in middle-class society and she's a Healing Wizard."

They stared at Shizuka.

"So… she's the next victim…" Taka-san weakly stated.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go warn this girl!" Tezuka said and they all followed him outside.

Ryoma was the last one to exit, but before he was out of the room, he stared at the moonstone on the ground one last time. He got curious and went back inside to look at it. He looked at his reflection, waiting for its magic to work. Suddenly, the moonstone glowed and later revealed a man whom he could swear he saw before but couldn't put his words into it.

He stared at the man even more. He had dark blue wavy hair that just ends around his neck. His eyes are of the same color. He had a gentle and kind expression yet showed he was proud and dignified.

"… Who is this person…?" Ryoma asked himself.

Then, his eyes widened when he realized it. It could be possible that this person was a Vesonian. He desired to know who the Vesonians are anyway so… it could be possible that this man is the leader!

His amber eyes glowed with rage. "So you're the one who made Ryuzaki suffer…" he gritted his teeth angrily.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

_Knock knock knock_

An unfamiliar girl with green hair opened the door. Her amber eyes stared innocently at the people in front of her bakery. "Uhm… may I help you?"

"We're not here to buy bread," Zaizen said nonchalantly. He went inside the bakery without the green-haired girl's consent.

"H-Hey, w-wait… don't just enter here like that!" the green-haired girl yelled as she stomped towards Zaizen who was examining some random breads in front of him.

Zaizen shrugged and took one piece of bread and ate it.

"H-Hey! That's not for free! You have to pay for it!" the lady said.

Zaizen continues on ignoring her as he munched the bread he 'stole'. After a few more minutes of the girl nagging and him eating his stolen bread, he spoke up. "Listen here, lady. I'm Zaizen Hikaru of the Silverchains. And I'm here to protect you, so the least you could pay me is these breads…"

"Z-Zaizen Hikaru? Silverchains? Protect?"

"And you just summarized what I said…" Zaizen bluntly pointed out and began taking another piece of bread. "By the way, you've got nice breasts…"

The lady blushed in embarrassment and wrapped her arms in front of her chest. "W-What!"

Zaizen swallowed before saying, "I meant _breads. _I said you've got nice _breads_." He just hoped, well not really, that she'll believe him.

The girl was about to protest some more when they heard a disappointed sigh coming from the entrance of the bakery. It revealed a light-brown-haired man with bandages on his left arm.

"Ah, Shiraishi-san," Zaizen stated in boredom. "I've come to meet Shizuka Knightsley."

Shiraishi shook his head. "That's not the issue right now, Zaizen… I can't believe you've turned perverted… How can you just bluntly comment on a grown woman's physique like that? I'm highly disappointed in you Zaizen."

Zaizen remained expressionless. "I said she have nice breads."

Another person entered the bakery and it revealed all the other Silverchain and Eiralith members. "We're getting off the topic," Tezuka said in his normal, I'm-your-leader-you're-my-servant-obey-me tone.

Shizuka, the green-haired baker, stared in awe at the sudden intrusion of guys—_hot _guys—in her bakery. And among those guys, she noticed one particular person that stands out, since this person was the only female in the group. "U-Uhm…" her voice faded.

"Pardon us. My name is Tezuka Kunimitsu, the leader of the Eiralith. We're an organization sent by Elphiore and Relphore's Alliance to help this country with regards to the problem of the mysteriously disappearing women. And we had discovered that you, Shizuka Knightsley, is the next victim of the fearsome Vesonians."

…

…

.

.

.

Frankly, the girl did _NOT _understand a word Tezuka said.

So did the others.

"Uhm… h-hello. I'm Sakuno. I apologize for our sudden intrusion… but we're here to protect you," Sakuno suddenly intervened.

"Uhm… okay…?" Shizuka said unsurely.

"Some important people are going to kill-slash-kidnap you so you better let us in right now OR I'M THE ONE WHO'S GOING TO KILL YOU!" Ryoma said, (not) slightly irritated at the girl.

Shizuka gulped fearfully and nodded furiously.

"Good. Glad we're on the same terms," Ryoma said and walked away.

"Ryoma-kun! You shouldn't have said that! What you did was rude! G-Get back here—" Sakuno followed Ryoma outside.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

That night, Inui and the others explained to Shizuka the real situation and their discoveries about what could happen in a short while. They supplied her enough information about the Vesonians, the disappearing women, and such. Shizuka finally understood everything, well some of it, and gladly complied. After their weird introduction to her that morning in the bakery, she was a bit freaked out but now she knows that she could trust them.

Right now, they were in Shizuka's home, not too far away from the bakery. Every member of the Silverchain and Eiralith were already on full-alert, knowing that Vesonians are going to attack any time. They were almost anywhere, inside or outside Shizuka's home, along the streets, in her basement—just literally anywhere. They were pretty good in numbers too so they were confident that they'll be able to catch the Vesonians. Finally.

Shizuka was asked to hide in the basement, along with Sakuno, Fuji, Tezuka and Shiraishi. Echizen, Inui, Zaizen, and Tooyama are on the hallways leading to the basement. Koharu and Yuuji are on the living room. Kikumaru and Oishi are on the kitchen and dining room. Gin, Oshitari, Chitose and Kaidoh are on the streets. And lastly, Kawamura and Momoshiro are on the roof.

Sakuno remained on alert, expecting Vesonians to arrive not a moment later. Then, she looked at Shizuka and found the frightened look of the girl. She smiled and approached her. She held Shizuka's hands and said, "Don't worry. You're going to be fine. We're going to protect you."

Shizuka had some tears forming on the sides of her eyes. Upon seeing Sakuno's assured expression, she knew that she could trust them. She honestly didn't want to die yet!

Just then a violent creaking sound of the wood on the roof was heard.

Tezuka looked up and narrowed his eyes. "They're here," he warned the people around him.

Sakuno, Fuji and Shiraishi nodded, all prepared for the worse that can happen.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

"Crappy hell," Momoshiro complained. He was half-grinning half-nervous at the sight in front of him. "Why did you have to start appearing here in the roof?"

"Momo, be careful. He's a positive Vesonian. Just look at the mark on his knee; it's definitely the ones we've been searching for," Taka said almost calmly. He looked back at the Vesonian smirking at them.

The Vesonian had spiky silver-hair and a small portion of his hair was tied back into a low ponytail. He waved an arm at them and began introducing himself confidently, "'Sup. Niou Masaharu, at your service".

Momo grinned lazily and Taka positioned himself on attack position. "Don't be too careless, Momo. His other comrades might suddenly come from nowhere and attack us from any point."

"Yes, yes. Don't worry, Taka-san. I'm perfectly aware of my surroundings," Momo replied as he too positioned himself for attacking.

Niou grinned and began laughing. This earned curious stares from the powerhouse duo of Eiralith. "You don't have to worry about that," Niou said after laughing, "There's only me tonight."

"Huh?" Momo and Taka didn't know whether to believe him or not.

"Believe me, I'm telling the truth," Niou said, sensing that his enemies were not believing him. He won't too if he were in their place. "Unfortunately, my stone of a leader—well, vice-leader—was too mean to give me a partner and set me off here on a mission ALONE," he said with sarcasm.

"Yeah well…" Momo said with a smirk, after he said that though, he disappeared as he teleported towards Niou, "… NOBODY CARES!" He gave Niou a hopefully successful uppercut.

The problem was, it wasn't successful. Niou teleported away just as Momo's fist was an inch from his chin. Taka and Momo found him the next second below, in front of Shizuka's house. "That's mean. Why does everyone kept being mean to me?" Niou pretended to whine and smirked when Taka and Momo glared at him. "Is that all you two got? Come on, there's two of you and only one of me! What a bunch of weaklings," Niou laughed mockingly, much to Momo's irritation.

Then, Momo's glare turned into a confident smile. Niou raised a curious brow at this. "What?"

Niou turned around and found four persons in front of him. Namely, Gin, Oshitari, Chitose and Kaidoh.

In a flash, the six members and their combined teamwork was put to use when they trapped Niou, encircling him.

Niou smirked, looking as if he's relatively proud. "Interesting. Really interesting," he commented. "But…"

Gin, Oshitari, Chitose, Kaidoh, Taka and Momo's eyes widened when Niou jumped up. From their view, the Vesonian was on his silhouette form since behind him was the moon. "… Not interesting enough," Niou continued. And just as what they expected, Niou landed on the roof with immense force and broke the house's roof, letting him inside.

"CRAP!" they all yelled. They ran back inside the house to warn or help their co-members with the Vesonian who had come to challenge all of them single-handedly.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Niou safely landed on the hallway, where he was greeted by surprised looks from Echizen, Inui, Zaizen, and Tooyama. Echizen smirked at him evilly and summoned demons. Upon finding a Vesonian right in front of them, Inui prepared himself to write anything on his trusty notebook and use his magic based on what Niou would do to them. Zaizen, as per always, looked bored and held his silver earring with his forefinger and thumb in a relaxed manner. Tooyama grinned like a child and went on a battle stance.

"BRING IT ON!" Tooyama yelled and ran towards Niou in full force, with Ryoma's demons on his track.

Niou smiled, feeling quite happy that he got to do his exercise. He kind of expected all of these to happen as well. Although, there was still one question that bothers him.

_How'd they know that he was after Shizuka that night?_

Oh well. What's done is done. Coincidence or not, they are all right in front of him, ready to pound him to death. Yeah, like he'll ever let that happen.

Noticing his odd grin, the four heroes got irritated at Niou and continued with their attacks. Niou side-stepped Tooyama's punches and kicks while he dodged Ryoma's soul-eating demons. While this was repeatedly occurring, he did not notice a wave of water behind him. He only noticed it when he heard the sounds. He looked behind him and found a tsunami right down the hallway, coming at him!

"What the!" he cut himself off, not knowing what he'd do with the random tsunami. He rolled his eyes towards Inui. That data man's probably the one who did this.

Niou faced the weird, random tsunami head on, using just his arms to protect him.

"We got him!" Tooyama declared.

"Not yet," Echizen said and pushed Kintarou out of the way. Kintarou muffled a protest but he was ignored.

'_I'm going to catch this bastard. For Ryuzaki's sake,' _Ryoma thought to himself when once again, he used his magic to summon the best demon he could think of at that moment; Haezrelah.

Haezrelah is a kind of demon who could catch mostly anything or anyone with its body. Its whole body is made of tin and metal that it made him resemble a soldier from the medieval era. But just in his stomach area, is a huge circular glass container, just about the size of a normal wooden chair. Inside the circular container is a wave of different colors of light. He keeps his entrapped souls there after he eats them. That circular glass container is also a torture chamber. When souls are trapped in there, he could torture them first before completely digesting them.

"Haezrelah, get him!" Ryoma ordered and Haez obeyed him.

Haez ran towards Niou, making metallic _clangs _in the process. Haez is also equipped with a spear, which he uses mostly for his battles. He attacked Niou with this, making Niou in between Inui's random tsunami and Ryoma's demon Haez.

Niou looked panic-stricken for a moment, fooling his opponents that he was done for. But just as Haez and the tsunami were about to hit him, he smirked confidently and his Vesonian mark glowed.

"He's going to use his magic," Zaizen said monotonously. His previous casual position was then changed into a battle stance; his hand still holding his silver earring.

Haez swung his spear to Niou, ignoring that the Vesonian was about to use his magic. But before he hit Niou completely with his spear, something stopped his spear.

Smoke and dust began surrounding all of them in the hallway. And after a few seconds, it faded away. And it revealed another Haez fighting Ryoma's Haez. The tsunami was also gone.

"W-What?" Kintarou exclaimed loudly. "He could summon demons too?"

Ryoma stared unbelievably at the exact replica of Haez right next to Niou. His Haez was fighting this new fake one that Niou summoned. The sounds of their spears hitting each other echoed throughout the whole house.

"Yes, I could also summon demons," Niou said.

Inui gaped in shock. "How'd you make my magic disappear?"

Niou smirked. "There's a demon who could nullify Spell Casters like you, right?" he looked at Ryoma who glared at him in return.

"The only demon who could nullify a Spell Caster's magic is Lorraine," Ryoma said.

"Yep, that's right. The lovely Lorraine," Niou said with mockery.

"But how did you summon Lorraine in a spun of seconds and summon her back?" Ryoma stepped forward.

"I'm just that great. That's all," Niou said. He turned his head to the side and watched the two Haezs battle each other. Niou turned his head back around to Ryoma and the others again and smiled innocently. "Now, if you would excuse, I still need to take Knightsley with me," Niou said and ran towards the staircase leading to the basement.

Ryoma and the others tried to run after him but they were suddenly stopped when another Haez appeared in front of them, blocking their way.

"Just how many Heaz could he summon?" Kintarou asked irritatingly as he began summoning angels.

"Wait, Tooyama."

Kintarou stopped and looked at Zaizen. "What?"

"You shouldn't summon your Heavenly Beings while Echizen is here," he pointed towards Ryoma who just irritatingly rolled his eyes. It was not his fault he could faint if he were in a presence of a Celestial Being. He didn't like the idea of being a nuisance to his colleagues either.

"Well sorry I'm such a nuisance in this team," Ryoma said sarcastically.

Zaizen smiled. "And that is why you have me to compensate for you."

Just then, Gin, Oshitari, Chitose, Kaidoh, Taka and Momo arrived in time.

Kintarou smiled while Inui and Ryoma questioned his statement.

"So does that mean that you're going to use _it _Zaizen?" Kintarou asked excitingly. The Eiraliths stared at Zaizen quizzically while the Silverchains grinned with confidence.

"There's no other choice now, is there?" Zaizen said confidently. Then, his earring glowed. "It's my time to show off now."

All of the Eiralith's eyes widened when Zaizen used his power.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Niou stared seriously at the door in front of him. Behind this door could mean more enemy. But it also mean that Shizuka is here.

'_If Eiralith and Silverchains were going this much to protect Shizuka, then it means that Shizuka is really the one we're looking for,' _Niou thought and smirked. _'Way to hide your secrets from us…'_

Niou opened the door and as expected, he was attacked the second he entered the room.

He stopped Tezuka's attack on him by side-stepping it. He ran around the room, trying to get in as much architectural information as possible. His eyes then landed on other pairs of eyes. He could see two more other guys and two girls. One of them is Shizuka, the girl he was looking for.

He stopped running and he summoned a huge tsunami just like the one Inui summoned earlier.

"He's a Spell Caster!" Sakuno said and positioned herself in front of Shizuka. She'll protect this girl no matter what.

"He's got the same power as Inui. Tezuka, don't underestimate him!" Fuji yelled with his eyes opened.

The tsunami washed away the others in no second's time. But before they could all drown in it, Tezuka slashed open a portal to another dimension with his sword and sucked away all of the water.

"Shizuka-san, are you okay?" Sakuno asked the green-haired baker between coughs.

Shizuka nodded, who was also coughing.

Shiraishi stepped between Tezuka and Niou. He glared at the Vesonian. "You're the one who had been taking away our female citizens. I could never forgive you for what you've done. Skytheria hadn't done anything in your country. By doing this, you are automatically declaring war against us!"

"Every country in the world is Vesonia's enemy. Vesonia has already declared war upon many countries before it even disappeared in the hands of Elphiore," Niou explained.

"You're but a bunch of conceited know-it-all," Shiraishi said. "Declaring war against every country? What made you think you could defeat us all? It's only one of you and thousands of us!"

Niou smirked. "We may have been defeated five hundred years ago… but that was only because there was a miscalculation. But it won't happen again."

Shiraishi glared even more. "So we can't talk this out? You're still going to let what the past has done ruin what you have now?"

Niou chuckled. "A person like you would never understand the pain the Vesonians went through. The world saw us as the evil ones. But that's not true at all…"

"What are you trying to say?" Tezuka interjected.

"You don't have to know. You won't believe it anyway," Niou said and began summoning demons.

"He could also summon demons?" Sakuno said with disbelief.

"That's impossible. A person cannot have two kinds of magic at once! That's the fourth of the Universal Law!" Fuji said.

"Well maybe none of the Universal Laws apply to Vesonians!" Niou said and continued on attacking all of them with the demons he summoned.

"That's impossible… unless… there was a Law Manipulator amongst the Vesonians like Relphore," Tezuka said as he attacked the demons with his dimensional sword.

Niou smirked, his eyes blank. '_So they _do _have a Law Manipulator with them. Interesting information you provide me yourselves. Come on. Just continue on giving me valuable information.'_

Sakuno was about to use her magic when Fuji stopped her. "Don't use it. I've got your back. That Vesonian is still not worth using your magic on," Fuji said with a smile. Sakuno just nodded, but she felt a bit unwanted at the moment.

"This is getting out of hand," Shiraishi said. He removed the bandages on his left arm. It revealed a golden gauntlet underneath those strips of bandages. He fisted his left hand and a thick hardbound book popped out in front of Shiraishi.

The book was entitled 'Bible'.

Shiraishi opened the Bible in a page. He stared at the Latin words in the Bible and began reading it.

"What's he doing?" Fuji asked.

Then, a bunch of creatures began appearing from the book. At first it looks like the words in the pages were getting out of the book but once they were at least 5 inches away from the Bible, the Latin words were converted into weird-looking white creatures. These white creatures looked like dandelions.

Shiraishi continued on chanting with the Latin words coming out of his mouth. And white creatures kept on coming out of the Bible. The white creatures attack Niou's demons and with just a touch of their tiny little hands that appeared underneath their fluffy thick furs, the demons disappear.

"I knew it," Shiraishi said. "He's not a Spell Caster or a Summoner."

"What is he then?" Fuji asked, still awed by Shiraishi display of power.

"He's just an Illusionist. He was just playing with us," Shiraishi answered. Niou glared at him.

"How did you know all of that?" Tezuka asked as he watches Niou's demons being defeated by Shiraishi's white creatures.

"The Bible knows the answer," Shiraishi said. "With the perfect execution of my power to summon Mystical Spirits, I could identify the truth behind things."

"So these dandelions are Mystical Spirits?" Sakuno asked as she and Shizuka stared at the white creatures.

"Yes. They are the ones taking care of the world since the beginning. They are the spirit of the trees, rocks, mountains or oceans. They are the caretakers of nature, hence they mostly live in nature," Shiraishi answered.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Zaizen's magic awed the Eiralith members. When he removed his earring, his body instantly turned into a beast. He said, "Echizen, if I were you, summon your Haez back or else he might also get involved."

Ryoma nodded and made his Haez disappear. Leaving only two Haezs summoned by Niou fighting them.

"Wow… he turned into a werewolf," Momo commented.

"Not exactly," Gin said. "Zaizen is taking the form of a Mountain Beast—a mutant creature taking the form of a lion and a wolf. Our Mother Nature has different kinds of beings taking care of her. They are called Mystical Spirits. They are the spirits who take care of our nature. One of these is the Mystical Beasts. It is the spirit of beasts who used to live in our world thousands of years ago. Zaizen had formed a contract with them. Meaning, they will reside inside his body in exchange for letting him use their powers. His only condition is that he won't be able to return back to his normal self once he agrees with the contract. That is why he was wearing that earring to conceal the many beasts that reside in his body."

"That earring acts as Zaizen's power limiter. Once he removes it, he automatically unleashes the beasts' powers," Kenya added.

"Wow… your powers are amazing…" Momo said.

In a flash, they saw Zaizen fighting two Haez at once.

"But can a Mystical Beast defeat a demon?" Ryoma asked.

Chitose replied with confidence, "It's basically up to the person using the Beast's power."

They watched as Zaizen trying to avoid one spear and another. The two Haezs were really fast, that was for sure. But he knew that once they got him, it's bye-bye to his soul. Demons eat humans souls after all. So he better be careful.

He ran around and tried to punch the huge circular glass of one Haez. Unfortunately, it was too strong and it didn't break.

"Don't try to break Haez's stomach. If you do that, it would only suck your soul," Ryoma said.

"Gee. Thanks for the early warning," Zaizen said sarcastically. Good thing Haez's stomach didn't break easily, or else he was done for.

Suddenly, Zaizen transformed into another beast. His other half was suddenly turned into a skeleton.

"Creepy!" Momo said looking slightly pale. Kaidoh also paled in a corner.

"That's the beast taking care of dead animals living in the forests," Gin said.

"No wonder."

Zaizen jumped up and landed on one of Haez's head. He turned to Ryoma. "Hey, what's this demon's weakness? Surely you'd know that since you're a summoner and all."

"His stomach," Ryoma replied.

"Huh?" Zaizen said, "But you said not to break his stomach or else it'll only suck my soul."

"Exactly. The only way to do it is to get eaten by him and destroy him from the inside," Ryoma said.

"So Haez's strength is also his weakness? Not cool at all," Momo said as he turned to Ryoma.

Ryoma smirked. "But Haez is pretty strong. You won't be able to do it unless you're really strong," he challenged Zaizen.

"Just whose side are you on?" Kintarou yelled at him. Ryoma rolled his eyes.

"Try me," Zaizen said confidently and jumped inside what he thought of as Haez's mouth. Well, it was hard to identify since Haez was all metal.

They watched in suspense as they wait for Zaizen to appear inside Haez's circular glass-thingy (also known as his stomach). After a few seconds, a glowing light appeared inside the circular glass.

"He got in," Ryoma said. "The question is… will he get out?" Ryoma smirked.

"D-Don't say that! Zaizen will get out for sure!" Kintarou said.

"So… that's Zaizen soul right there?" Kenya asked as he pointed towards the thing inside Haez.

"Yep."

"But there's another Haez…" Chitose said and looked at the other Haez next to the one that ate Zaizen's soul.

Inside Haez, Zaizen's soul was roaming around the place. It kind of felt weird to have your soul separated from your body. But the good thing about that is there's more than one soul inside his body. He smirked. All of a sudden, all of the beasts' souls residing inside his body popped out and began filling Haez's stomach.

"There's more than one soul in my body," Zaizen said. "Are you feeling full?" he asked Haez.

"And you know what?" Zaizen smirked, "My beasts powers are at its best when their spirits can freely roam around!"

The Silverchains and Eiralith began noticing the increasing number of souls inside Haez's stomach. Then, Haez began glowing. And in a matter of seconds, it suddenly exploded.

They all gaped in shock. Especially Ryoma, who couldn't believe that a mere guy like Zaizen could defeat a strong demon like Haez. Haez couldn't be defeated by such a weak power. He was sure of it. '_Wait a second here. Something's off. Haez is not as weak as that.'_

After Haez exploded, and after the smoke and dust faded away, they were greeted by a smirking Zaizen. "The beasts inside of me were all excited that they get to get out of my body… even for just a moment."

The first Haez was defeated! They cheered.

Then, they turned to look at the second Haez.

"It could be possible that the Haez that Niou summoned was a fake one. Haezrelah cannot be defeated by a simple technique like that," Ryoma said.

Zaizen laughed mockingly. "You just can't accept the fact that I defeated a demon, you demon summoner you."

Ryoma glared at him.

"It could be possible that Niou isn't really a Demon Summoner," Inui said.

Then, they began hearing weird noises coming out of the last Haez. It looked like he was restraining something. Then, Haez dropped on the ground and began shaking madly. It glowed for a second before it turned into glowing dusts.

They stared in surprise at what happened. What happened exactly? The second Haez suddenly disappeared!

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

Niou tsk-ed and let all of his illusions disappear (the reason why the second Haez mysteriously disappeared). They were right. He didn't have two powers at once and they don't have a Law Manipulator (or do they?) with them. He was just an ordinary magician who obeys The Five Universal Laws. "Fine, fine. You got me. I'm just an ordinary Illusionist. They call me Niou Masaharu, the Trickster."

"And I must say, you're a pretty interesting opponent, Shiraishi-san," Niou added.

"So he just tricked us. We have let our guard down," Tezuka said.

The two opposing sides stared at each other in a challenging way before Niou began attacking again. "But knowing my power doesn't change anything now, does it?" he teleported towards Shizuka who could only gape in shock at his speed.

He knocked Shizuka out with a pinch on a vital area on her neck.

"Shizuka-san!" Sakuno yelled worriedly. "I have no choice. I'll use it."

Tezuka and Fuji looked at Sakuno in shock. "No, don't!" they both yelled at the same time.

'_Why? Why are they making a fuss about Ryuzaki-san's magic?' _Shiraishi wondered.

A mark on Sakuno's chest suddenly appeared. It began glowing.

"NO!" Tezuka yelled.

"Huh?" Niou looked at Sakuno. He stared at the mark on her chest once again. "No… it can't be… She's…"

Sakuno's eye color began changing into different shades of color. From russet to purple to blue to green and lastly, yellow. Niou remained glued on his position. For some reason, he can't take his eyes off of her.

"Firi Austrë Han Huesgh Lie'lore Fŏşique! (1)" Sakuno said.

'_I-IMPOSSIBLE! T-That chant…' _Shiraishi stared with disbelief at Sakuno, who was currently glowing.

Niou's shocked face was suddenly turned into delight upon hearing the words come out of her mouth. "I… finally… found you…" he said with enchantment, his eyes glowing with utmost delight. He unconsciously dropped Shizuka on the ground.

Then, Niou's eye color began changing as well to the point where it matched Sakuno's changing ones.

"She's really going to use it! Ryuzaki, I order you to stop this immediately! You are not to use this power unless—" Tezuka was cut off by Fuji who told him that it was no use. She was already using it.

"Ryuzaki-san… is the bearer of _that _power!" Shiraishi exclaimed in disbelief. And here he thought he had the best power among all of them.

"Yes, the sole reason why she was accepted by our leader," Tezuka replied, feeling quite useless at having his teammate disobey him.

"Ryuzaki-chan… has the power to cancel any being's power, memories, personality and etcetera. Be it Heavenly Being, Hell Dwellers, Magicians, Humans, Spiritual Beings or even Law Manipulators. She can cancel it for all eternity. She's The Judge. The one believed in Legends to be the child of God," Fuji said.

"But because of this great ability of her… naturally she also has a great condition," Tezuka said.

"Ryuzaki-chan can't use her magic on a regular basis because of the condition. The first of the Universal Law, '_Every power has to meet certain conditions. The stronger the magic is, the higher the condition'_."

"What is her condition?" Shiraishi asked.

"A portion of her life disappears," Tezuka said. "In summarization, we could tell she could only use this power of hers three times in her whole life."

Shiraishi punched the floor. "Then… then… isn't she only just wasting it on Niou?"

"Exactly," Tezuka said.

"We have to stop her!" Shiraishi said.

"We can't. No one could ever stop The Judge once the magic is being used," Fuji said sadly.

Niou and Sakuno's eyes remained on changing its color. Their eyes are at perfect sync. But Niou, instead of looking fearful, was actually looking like he won the lottery.

"Guaô Lẻ'gisa Ỳaehler," Sakuno said and Niou felt like his whole life was being sucked out of him. Their eye color changed one last time before Niou was surrounded by different shades of light. His body shook and he fell on the ground. He raised his head up to look at Sakuno one last time. He grinned like an obsessed man.

"I've found you at last…" he muttered before he fainted on the ground.

Sakuno also dropped on the ground, feeling weak. The lights surrounded them finally faded away. Shiraishi, Tezuka and Fuji ran up to her.

"I-I'm fine..." she reassured them. But she was looking really weak. She coughed a few times before dropping unconsciously on Tezuka's arms.

Fuji and Shiraishi stared at the now-powerless Niou.

**:||~ElPhIoRe~||:**

The trip back to the castle of Skytheria was filled with tensed silence. Unfortunately, the other Eiralith and Silverchain members arrived a little late than usual. When they arrived, Sakuno, Shizuka and Niou were already fainted. And they found out that the reason why the second Haez disappeared was because Niou's magic was cancelled out by Sakuno.

And upon hearing the news that Sakuno used her magic, Ryoma glowered at everyone. He was the angriest among all of them. Because of their stupid backfired plan, a portion of Sakuno's life disappeared again.

"Again? What do you mean 'again'?" Kikumaru asked.

"Ryuzaki already used her magic once," Ryoma gritted his teeth.

"Oh crap. Then that means she can only use her magic one last time," Kaidoh said.

"It was totally wasted at Niou…" Taka said timidly.

All of them arrived back at the castle and the unconscious ones were immediately treated. Shizuka was being guarded by Shiraishi and Chitose while Niou was being guarded by the comedy duo and Kintarou.

On the other hand, Ryoma stayed with Sakuno, who was being tended by Oishi. He held Sakuno's hands and squeezed them tightly. He didn't really know why Ryuzaki used her magic at that time. Niou was not worth it. She just wasted it.

"Echizen, maybe Sakuno-chan used her magic because she wants to be useful to our team. You don't have to blame her or yourself," Oishi said to calm the prince down.

"I'm not blaming her or myself. I'm blaming the Vesonians," Ryoma said, his bangs covering his eyes.

Oishi sighed. He gave Ryoma a reassuring smile. "Look at the bright side. We've got a powerless Vesonian in our hands. You don't have to put Sakuno-chan's sacrifice in vain."

"…"

"By the way Echizen… when was the first time Sakuno-chan used her magic?" Oishi asked.

"When her parents were killed," he said not hesitating on telling the mother hen. He knew he could trust him. "She used her magic for the first time on the Vesonian who killed her parents. At least that's what she told me."

"So the Vesonian who killed her parents are now also powerless like Niou," Oishi said.

Ryoma nodded.

"Well anyway, now that we have Niou, it means we can use him to find out the Vesonians' hideout. And he won't be able to put much of a fight even if he wakes up."

Ryoma agreed. But still, Sakuno's powers were still not worth using on Niou. They could use another method on restraining the Vesonian instead of having his power cancelled out by his fiancée.

"Once Niou wakes up, we'll shake every bit of information out of him!" Oishi said determinedly.

Then, their door bursts open. It revealed a panicky Koharu.

"BAD NEWS! Niou got away! Some of his Vesonian comrades took him away!"

To be continued.

* * *

><p>(1) – Yeah I invented the words. I don't even know what language was that. Haha, sorry XD<p>

A/N: Yep, a cliffhanger. Haha. Sorry for the ultra late update. I was really busy and stuff. But don't worry. I'm not discontinuing this fic (I think). I sure hope that you guys liked the chapter. If not, I dunno what I'll do TT~TT But in my opinion, I am pretty happy with this chapter (maybe because of the fighting scenes ;))Oh, and next chapter will be a filler, to lighten up the mood a bit. Then, proceed to the story again!

Anyway, let me put in some important keynotes (because I think some of the readers already forgot what happened in the previous chapters because of my ultra late update. Sorry again about that T.T). But for those who still remember, you may skip it :)

**Eiralith **(Seigaku) is a part of an underground organization called **Relphore's Alliance of Kingdoms** (RAK) that helps people investigate and solve crimes in any country that needs their help.

** RAK **is divided into different **squads**. One of these squads is Eiralith, representing the country of Elphiore. Every squad is representing a country. The other squads are going to be revealed on the future chapters.

[] Tezuka is the **squad leader** of Eiralith.

** Elphiore **is the name of the country where our main character resides. Ryoma is the king of this country. Well, technically, he's still the prince but Nanjiroh (the current king) left the country to him to train him on being a good leader (that and he wanted a vacation).

** Relphore **is the leader of **Relphore's Alliance of Kingdoms**. So far, he's still a mysterious guy with amber eyes and red hair. He's a **Law Manipulator **meaning he can alter one of the **Five Universal Laws. **The rest of his identity to be revealed on the future chapters.

[] There are **Five Universal Laws**. The ones revealed so far are the following. (1) _Every power has to meet certain conditions. The stronger the magic is, the higher the condition. _(3) _Once the magician dies, all the magic he had done to change a person, thing and place would be cancelled_. (4) _A magician cannot have two powers at once_, and (5) _A magician would lose his power if his power was used against any creature from the heavens_. The **Second Law **is going to be revealed on the future chapters.

** The first Universal Law** doesn't apply to Tezuka, Oishi, Fuji, Inui, Taka, Eiji, Momo and Kaidoh because Relphore altered it for them. And so, they don't need a condition to use their powers anymore.

[] The **Echizen family **(Royal Rulers of Elphiore) are the only ones with the power related to souls. The revealed powers so far are **Echizen Ryoga**'s power which is to **Manipulate Souls** and **Echizen Ryoma**'s power to **Summon Soul-eating Demons.**

[] Ryoma's **condition **was he could only take souls if he were to place his hand on the person's back. He couldn't take it if he placed his hand anywhere else. But because he could summon soul-eating demons, it doesn't matter if he takes the soul himself or not because he'll feed them to his demons anyway.

**Hedrick **(full name to be revealed next chapter) is Ryoma's loyal personal servant. Extra note: he's the same age as Ryoga.

** Heyrth **(Hyotei) is an ally country of Elphiore. It's ruled by an egoistic King named **Atobe Keigo.**

** Skytheria **(Shitenhouji) is a country floating in the skies. The king is **Watanabe Osamu. **

[] Skytheria has an independent underground organization called **Silverchains. **Like RAK, they are a gang of justice. They are not a part of RAK though. But they have received invitation to join RAK because of Tezuka. The leader is **Shiraishi Kuranosuke.**

** Silverflame **is an angel residing in a Cathedral in Skytheria. He seems to know an important information regarding Ryoma and Sakuno's lives. Who is he?

** Tooyama Kintarou **can summon angels. And since magicians can't harm heavenly creatures, he's got an advantage whenever he's fighting.

** Ryoma **is pretty defenseless whenever he's near an angel. The reason for that is because of his demons and angels are holy and can purify demons.

** Wizards **are weak against **angels**. **Angels **are weak against **humans. Humans **are weak against **Wizards. **This cycle is called **The Universal Cycle of Dominance.**

** Fiera **(Fudomine) is the country where Momoshiro's fiancée lives. This is Elphiore's neighboring country. More to be revealed on this country next chapter (yes, it's their time to shine next chapter!)

** Vesonia **(Rikkaidai) is the name of the enemy country of Elphiore. They were at war before it ended five hundred years ago. This country was completely eliminated by Elphiore during the war but there are still some survivors and so they commit crimes on different countries all over the world to gain attention and to indirectly say that the war is still not over yet.

[] Vesonia cast a **curse **on the **Royal Rulers of Elphiore**. Ever chosen son per generation will never be able to go out of the castle or else he'll die. That is why the **castle of Elphiore **is surrounded by darkness all the time.

[] Vesonians use their power with the help of their "will". Because Vesonians are still recovering from the war, they are still not strong enough to activate their powers without a will.

[] Ryoma met Sakuno five years ago when he saved her from three bullies. Sakuno's parents died before their meeting and it was concluded that Vesonians are behind the murder.

[] Sakuno's power was revealed in this chapter. Her power's name is **Judge. **It can cancel any being's power, personality, memories or even all of it at once! She's pretty powerful!

I guess that's it. Hmm… if I forgot something, please tell it in your reviews… oh and you can also ask me questions to clarify some things :)

Now, the summarization of what happened per chapter! (You may skip this if you still remember)

**Chapter 1**: Eiralith was introduced and they were in a journey to get to the cursed castle of Elphiore to recruit Ryoma. Ryoma and Sakuno were also introduced as lovers here.

**Chapter 2**: Ryoma joined Eiralith after thinking about it. But they had an agreement that Ryoma will only join missions that involves Vesonia. Sakuno found out about the cursed son and learned that Ryoma had a brother and felt saddened because Ryoma kept all of this information from her. Kirihara was also introduced here as someone who just returned from his training and he seem to have an affection towards Sakuno. Ryoga was also introduced but his identity was not revealed until the next chapter.

**Chapter 3: **Ryoga is Ryoma's older brother. Ryoma seems to be afraid of him and tried his best to avoid him as much as possible. After a few months, he was told that he will be going to Heyrth for his first mission ever since joining Eiralith. The ones with him in this mission are Tezuka, Momo, Eiji and Inui. They met King Atobe there and engaged in a few talk over breakfast. Their mission was to investigate an inn with a case of disappearing people. They met the owner, ojii and his wizard employee, Yagyuu Hiroshi. Yagyuu is a water wizard who put a spell on the inn and all of its wooden material as 'fire proof'. Then, they received a letter from Vesonians stating that they will attack the inn later that night.

**Chapter 4:** They prepared for the battle. They guarded the inn but failed since the inn was suddenly set on fire. Yagyuu died because of a Vesonian attack and so his magic on the inn was cancelled. Then, two Vesonians appeared, Marui and Jackal and engaged Ryoma and Tezuka on a fight whilst Momo, Eiji and Inui tried to put the fire out. Then, Yagyuu appeared, revealing that he was a Vesonian all along. Then, the three Vesonians told our heroes that they only appeared to formally introduce themselves to the King of Elphiore (Ryoma) and left afterwards. When they were on the journey back in Elphiore, Momo and Eiji confessed to Ryoma that Fuji was currently training Sakuno to join Eiralith. Ryoma got mad at this and confronted Relphore, who refused to not let Sakuno join them. Ryoma went back to the castle and found Fuji training Sakuno. Ryoma got mad at Sakuno and told her to leave Eiralith or fear his wrath.

**Chapter 5: **Ryoma and Sakuno were still in a one-sided cold war (Sakuno tried her best to get to Ryoma's good side again but the prince was too stubborn). They were heading towards Skytheria where their next mission is. After a few drama, the two lovers finally made up. But then, a new love rival appeared, Tooyama Kintarou.

**Chapter 6**: Kintarou introduced all the members of Silverchain to Sakuno. After negotiating and exchanging information, Tezuka found out that only female residents were disappearing from Skytheria and they were looking for a girl with the name starting with the letter 'S'. Then, Shiraishi told them that the only way to find the next victim is through the moonstone. But to get the moonstone, they must ask an angel named Silverflame to give it to them. Kintarou was revealed to be an Angel Summoner and he summoned Silverflame and asked him for the moonstone. The angel agreed on giving them the moonstone but he had a condition. He wants Sakuno to go look for it since he hid it somewhere in the country. Silverflame's appearance drained energy from Ryoma and so he was sent back to Skytheria's castle to recover.

**Chapter 7: **Sakuno found the moonstone in time due to Silverflame's help by giving her a code. Then through a crystal necklace, Ryoma had a dream _where he and Sakuno were cousins, Ryoga was their immortal clan leader, and he was living in Skytheria. A tragic ending to all of them occurred wherein Ryoga killed Sakuno because he hated her relationship with his younger brother. Then, he gave his immortality to Ryoma just so he wouldn't see Sakuno in the afterlife. Ryoga died because of that and a new immortal Ryoma was left feeling lonely that he'll never get to see Sakuno again_. Ryoma woke up from the dream and he was left to wonder what that dream was about.

Yeah, that's what happened from chapter 1-7! Have you guys still remembered it all? Haha XD

By the way, thanks for the reviewers so far:

**haninozuka mitsukuni**

**inlovewithRYOSAKU**

**Tsuki no Sakura-11**

**Sweet Razzberry**

**Closetbookworm**

**Ayuzawa Minako**

**lovedubs-kawaii**

**kawaii-witch181**

**ilovereading567**

**midnight blue08**

**aika alternative**

**luv-u-alwayz94**

**haruko-tochi24**

**Rinx Lawrence**

**Crystal Aurora**

**hanajimachan**

**MAC Arcayera**

**Shina no Miko**

**Hanajimasaki**

**ILuvPurple16**

**starlight123**

**kichisaburo**

**Rinari-chan**

**sweetbuns**

**sashlee 14**

**Otakugal**

**luvliness**

**meririn**

**Susie**

**kei**

**iza**

**tft**

Prince of Tennis © Konomi Takeshi.


	9. Chapter 9

It's official. I will be on a very, very, very long hiatus in writing fanfictions due to excessive and utterly unreasonable amount of work to be done for my thesis (and my losing interest in the fandom). I will not be able to update ANY ON-GOING STORIES in the PoT fandom. I deeply apologize for not being able to update, considering that I absolutely love writing stories.

For now, I am not sure if I'll return in writing fanfictions in Prince of Tennis. I am not sure if I will only be on a hiatus or if I'm going to officially retire. If, in an occasion, I have been inactive for 2 years after reading this note (that means the date must be July 13, 2014), you can adopt an on-going Prince of Tennis fic of mine **given that you pm me about it**. It also means that I have retired from writing here and will not post any stories anymore.

Take note: I will still be reading fanfictions from time to time. I just won't be able to write fics for a long, long time. I'm most likely in the Gintama Fandom by now...

Thank you for your time in reading this... So now, please don't hurt me XDD

~Goodbye?


	10. SOMEONE PLAGIARIZED MY STORY!

Hello everyone! I am terribly sorry that this is not a chapter update, but I really need to tell this story's readers about an important matter regarding this story.

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT EVERYONE MUST READ.**

Apparently, I was recently informed by a really nice person that a certain Wattpad user had stolen this story, word per word. In short, she **PLAGIARIZED** Elphiore. That person is inactive for more than a year now so I don't know if she had read my message to her or not. I don't know what her objective was (she probably had nothing better to do with her life) but I asked her to take it down but still didn't receive any reply.

Anyway, I just want to inform everyone that in all my accounts in every site, I use the username rennomiya. AO3, FFN, Tumblr, Wattpad, Deviantart (my account name here is ren-nomiya), Pixiv, Mangafox, Youtube, twitter-you name it. So if ever you encounter a story (or art) similar to mine, and the uploader's username isn't rennomiya, then that isn't me. If it's rennomiya1, it's not me. If it's ren (underscore) nomiya, it's not me. You get the point.

I would like to think of this situation positively though, since the story is good enough to be **plagiarized/copied** by someone.** But not crediting me and just blatantly copying it is %#$^ &!^%# #*^.**

**RizzaEscopin** is the username of that wattpad account. If you want to see it, just google "Elphiore Wattpad" and you'll see it immediately. The only sites I post my stories are tumblr and here in ffn. I only have an account in AO3 to read stories, but I don't post my stories there either. I also ask of your help in** reporting** that person. That person had probably already forgotten about her account already and her evil deed, but I don't want to let go of it that easily. My only problem is it has already been a year, and I maybe too late.

Anyways, thanks for taking your time in reading this. Let me ask your help for taking down** plagiarizers**. You know, I know, we all know that this story is my work. I worked hard on it (even though it has lots of flaws) and I ask for your support. Thank you everyone.

As for the continuation of this story, I'm still not in the right mood to continue this, but I am not saying that I'm discontinuing it. If I still don't update by the deadline July 13,2014, then it's up for adoption. Don't be too disappointed though, since I have mood swings so there is a possibility that I would continue writing. To be fair, below is a sneak peak of the next chapter that had been on stand-by since last year. I BET YOU **RIZZAESCOPIN** DIDN'T HAVE CHAPTER 9.

Edit 01/09/2013:

Finally. RizzaEscopin deleted the story. I don't know if she deleted it herself or the website did it because I reported her. Anyway, I'm glad that I wasn't too late after all. Hope this incident will never happen again. RizzaEscopin, hope you learned your lesson... and please, if you don't have anything better to do with your life, do nothing at all, thanks.

* * *

><p>Relphore sighed disappointedly. But he wasn't really blaming anyone. There are just ups and downs in human life. Unfortunately for them, though, they were currently at the bottom of the wheel. He turned his amber cat-like eyes towards Tezuka. "So Niou-kun got away before you guys get to ask him questions. That's too bad…" he said sadly.<p>

Eiralith just got back from Skytheria with the sad news that their hostage got away with the help of the Vesonians they met at Heyrth (Marui, Jackal and Yagyuu). They were all too late when they arrived at the room where Niou was confined to.

Tezuka lowered his head in embarrassment. They were _so _close. Sakuno had wasted her magic on that mission. It was the worst mission Tezuka had ever had. And he didn't like what he was feeling at all. He was feeling guilty, useless and worst of all, responsible for what happened. He bowed down. "I sincerely apologize for what happened, Relphore-san."

Tezuka and Relphore were both at the Alliance of Kingdom's Headquarters inside the conference room. And Tezuka just finished reporting to his leader everything that happened in Skytheria.

Rel waved his hand in front of him, trying to ease the bespectacled man's guilt, and said, "Don't worry. It's nobody's fault. That Vesonian was just one step ahead of us, sadly."

"No," Tezuka raised his voice as if scolding himself, "Niou wouldn't have gotten away if we were prepared. I had been leading the team, and so the fault is mine. I had failed to do my duty."

Rel smiled, though went unnoticed since lower half of his face was covered by his dark navy-blue raised-collar shirt. His hood was, for the first time, removed from his head, making his red hair come out freely. It was the first time Tezuka saw his hood down. "Stop blaming yourself Tezuka. It's okay. Things like these happen sometimes. Although…" he trailed off, his forefinger pointed under his chin. He looked at Tezuka with pity, "Your recent experiences with Vesonians have failed, huh? And according to your record, you had never failed a mission before."

Tezuka remained looking at the ground in shame. "Not only that, Relphore-san. Eiralith's newest member, Ryuzaki Sakuno, had used her magic on Niou and because I let my guard down, her sacrifice was wasted."

"It can't be helped," Rel turned his head to his side, avoiding Tezuka's general direction. "We can't do anything about it anymore. There's no use in moping about it."

Tezuka looked up and stared at Rel with determination, "But Ryuzaki's power—"

"Quiet, Tezuka. I already told you that we can't do anything about it anymore. It's done. I'm not blaming anyone, especially not you. So stop torturing yourself. You are now dismissed."

"But Relphore-san! I believe I deserve a punishment! Niou got away without any of us getting the information we need! I ask for a punishment, Relphore-san!" Tezuka bowed again.

Rel sighed again. Tezuka can be pretty stubborn when he wants to. And now he's asking for a punishment? What is he, a masochist? "Okay, fine," Rel stood up from the chair and walked towards the door leading outside the conference room.

Before leaving the room, Rel said, "Go run fifty laps around the shopping district of Elphiore."

_Bang!_

Tezuka was left staring at the closed door.

Oh the irony of Rel's punishment.

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><p><strong>I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. <strong>I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. <strong>**I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. ****I HATE PLAGIARIZERS. TO HELL WITH PLAGIARIZERS.****


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